A new initiative—the Association of Presidents of Polish Cities – Work, Development, Responsibility (PRO)—aims to consolidate the presidents of small and medium-sized cities beyond political divisions. Among the association’s main objectives are, among others:
- developing a platform for dialogue between the government and local authorities,
- shaping a common and coherent policy for local governments,
- diagnosing the problems and development barriers facing small and medium-sized cities and metropolitan areas, and developing ways to resolve them.
The newly established association’s members are the mayors of Chełm, Zamość, Stalowa Wola, Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Racibórz, Zawiercie, Sieradz, Otwock, Pruszków, Puławy, Żyrardów, Przemyśl, Bełchatów, Łomża, Świętochłowice, Skierniewice, Zgierz, Piotrków Trybunalski, Żory, Mielec, Mysłowice, Siemianowice Śląskie, Tarnobrzeg, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Radomsko, Lubin, Katowice, Toruń, Piekary Śląskie and, of course, Bolesławiec.
The following day, the association’s members took part in a meeting with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. City Hall:
During the meeting, the local government officials presented their demands concerning the problems faced by Polish cities. Bolesławiec Mayor Piotr Roman raised the issue of the registration requirement, which is not complied with by Poland’s residents, and the specific consequences connected with this, for example in the area of waste management.
Officials add:
The discussion focused on the financial problems of local governments in the context of rising costs, the financing of Polish education, a different method of distributing funds from CIT, the activities of municipal police, in-house procurement, and other issues.
They also add:
The Prime Minister thanked the local government officials for a constructive, difficult, but important and very good discussion, which demonstrates the vast areas for cooperation with local authorities.
