Kwaśniewski: I can manage the city better

Grażyna Hanaf: – You publicly said about Piotr Roman’s presidency that eight years is enough. What exactly have you had enough of?

Dariusz Kwaśniewski: – Eight years is enough because Bolesławiec can develop better. I believe that both the potential of the money the municipality is entitled to and the potential of its people are not being used well. I believe that the current mayor cooperates neither with people nor with institutions, and this limits our city’s opportunities. I am missing cooperation, openness to others and reaching agreements.

More specifically, with examples?

An example is the promotional project Bory Dolnośląskie. The idea was to build the Bory brand, so that saying “Bory Dolnośląskie” would mean as much as, for example, “Masuria.” The mayor gave up this opportunity to promote the city, and then other mayors and municipal heads withdrew. As a result, with the help only of Pieńsk, Zgorzelec and Węgliniec, we will promote Bolesławiec so that its residents can benefit. I tried to build an agreement among a dozen or so municipalities and counties because the more partners there are, the more effective the project could be. Bolesławiec’s potential—its attractions and monuments—is too limited for tourists to come to the city for three or more days and leave money here in a hotel, restaurant, ceramics shop or grocery store. So that they leave money with entrepreneurs. We therefore need to combine the attractions in the surrounding area, such as local festivals: our Ceramics Days, Jakuby in Zgorzelec and the Agate Summer in Lwówek. Building a partnership so that Bolesławiec benefits. That was missing.

You talk about partnership, but how does it relate to the investments that have been springing up under Piotr Roman’s presidency?

Investments are a means to an end. We are building a partnership in order to change something in the city. The construction of the swimming pool is unquestionably the mayor’s success. It was simply high time that a city of almost 40,000 people had a swimming pool. A beautiful market square and renovated parks are standard. All cities the size of Bolesławiec received money for such investments as a matter of course—the larger the city, the more it received. Investments are not the goal; investments are made for a purpose. My ability to reach agreements will mean that investments are larger and more necessary. In fact, I have one example. The construction of Karola Miarki and Żwirki i Wigury streets is a joint city-and-county investment, one of the first.

So you do cooperate after all.

Yes. For the first time during this term. I have served three terms. In none of them could the county head and the mayor reach an agreement, although it is their duty to do so. We have an obligation to cooperate for the good of the residents. There was always one person at the heart of the disagreement—either when she was county head or when she was mayor [mowa o Piotrze Romanie, staroście bolesławieckim w latach 1998-2002 i od 2002 roku prezydencie miasta]. Perhaps the other side was always the bad one, I don’t know, but there was no cooperation. People should force us to cooperate. If only to resolve the problem of who the streets in the city belong to. This annoys residents, because who cares whose pothole it is? A resident wants it patched as quickly as possible. No one except officials knows which street belongs to whom. If we cannot agree to clear the streets together, using one company, paradoxes arise. The snowplow stops halfway down the street and goes no farther because it has become a municipal or county road.

Candidates have to convince people to support them. How do you intend to convince people who see the swimming pool, the beautiful Market Square and the parks, while your election program consists only of promises?

It is difficult. One could adopt the strategy of condemning everything wholesale. Then we would go on the offensive, but not substantively. We would rely only on negative emotions. But people do not like those who are negative. They then think that both candidates are crackpots and ask themselves, “Why would I want such a mayor?” I said no—I want to run this campaign differently. I take flak because people tell me I am boring. The people who chose me knew that I would not argue or insult anyone. And yet they backed me. I will have to convince people that the mayor did some things well, others almost well, and some badly. Housing policy is bad. During his time as mayor, there was nowhere to build in the city. There were few plots, and they were expensive. People built homes in Kruszyn and Łaziska. They pay taxes to the rural municipality. The city is shrinking, has fewer and fewer residents, and its income has gone elsewhere. If I manage to get across the message that things can be better, I will win. I am trying on the Internet and on cable television. I am counting on meeting the current mayor in a debate. In a substantive discussion, I can defeat him.

Piotr Roman can publicly accuse the opposition of the worst things. We have heard that he fears attacks and compromising material from the opposition. Will you nevertheless insist on conducting this campaign like a game of chess?

I spoke with the current mayor. It is no secret that we talk to each other. I asked him directly whether he thought I could accuse him of things he had not done, or invent mistresses he did not have. Now I know—and I regret that the mayor did not say this publicly—that when he spoke about compromising material and attacks by the opposition, he was not thinking of Platforma.

Who was he talking about, then?

I do not want to reveal that. It is information no one needs.

So we are in for a substantive campaign without aggression?

I have been accused of being aggressive. Recently, an elderly woman criticized me. She threatened that if I attacked her mayor again, she would scratch me. Apparently, after hearing my interview on Azart-Sat, she became so upset by my attack on the mayor that she fainted and an ambulance was called.

Pensioners and older people are considered Piotr Roman’s core electorate. Do you have your own core electorate?

My electorate will be Platforma supporters—people who support Platforma at all. In the last election, nearly 65 percent of voters in Bolesławiec voted for a candidate supported by PO. People tell me I am not Tusk. But I am the head of Platforma Obywatelska in the city. If I manage to convince people that we are a party of reasonable people who set themselves goals and move forward, I will get their votes. I think I will receive votes from groups with which I am connected in some way. I have ideas for entrepreneurs. When someone asks me whether local taxes for entrepreneurs really have to be so high, I answer that they do not. They can be lowered in the second or third year, once the city budget has been brought under control. And this does not have to result in lower revenue for the city budget. I am also thinking about teachers. Our education system is one of the best in the voivodeship.

Are there any specifics—what have you actually done?

During the county’s second term, from 2002 to 2006, the county did not obtain a single zloty from the European Union. There were no people, no procedures and no long-term investment program. I managed to build a team and wrote a Long-Term Investment Plan. We calculated how many programs we could afford and listed them. There were seven, two of them together with the hospital—the emergency department and computerization of the hospital. The construction of Karola Miarki and Żwirki i Wigury streets, which we are carrying out jointly with the city. The Schetynówka road program. Our Schetynówka was the best and longest—it is a bypass connecting to National Road 94, the road from Bolesławiec to Krzyżowa and Tomaszów. We are now working on Leśna and Śluzowa streets. There will be a new road surface, sidewalks, wheelchair-accessible driveways and lighting. I recently learned that we will be able to complete all of Lubańska Street, from Garncarska to the allotment gardens. This investment is also being carried out with the city. We are renovating the theater. We are raising funds. We will create a multimedia center at I Liceum Ogólnokształcące. The library will have software—the first of its kind in Poland—enabling interlibrary loans. A European Union project is connecting all 28 teaching libraries in Lower Silesia in a network. We have SOS, free tutoring for students. It is my project: ten thousand additional hours in subjects covered by the secondary-school leaving examination, additional money for teachers and 200,000 for equipment for schools.

Cooperation, joint action and addition—that is, synergy. Will voters like that?

The result of cooperation can also be something wonderful, something that shines. Together, we can simply do more. I do not know whether this will ultimately be the motto of my campaign. I believe that we should give people as much as possible and use their potential. That is joint action. If we combine an official’s professionalism with a creator’s passion, something will come of it. I need to know which legal provision will allow me to obtain money for Gliniada or “Dźwięki miasta” [imprezę muzyczną dla młodzieży], but I will not organize the festival. I will provide the money. An artist, a passionate creator, will use it to realize their vision and make Bolesławiec more attractive.

Since we have mentioned Gliniada: you parted ways with councilor Bogdan Nowak. What about Gliniada and the County Office’s support for the event?

We parted ways with the person who came up with Gliniada, but she did not create it single-handedly. We parted ways politically, but if someone has talent, it does not matter whether they belong to the same party as me. I have not stopped appreciating Nowak for what he can do to promote Bolesławiec through Gliniada. But politically, our paths will not cross. These are two different spheres; I believe they can be separated.

The official campaign will begin shortly. How are you preparing for it?

In reality, the campaign has been going on all along. So far, I am the only candidate active on the Internet. I devote a great deal of time to Internet users. I started a blog. There is a lot of information there. I reply, always using my full name, even to the most unpleasant opponents. I am tough and I can handle it. When the official campaign begins, I will go out into the city, onto the streets, to the people. I want to defeat Roman by talking to people. I want to reach them. I am convinced that I will succeed.