Presidential candidate Dawid Sarbak: we were the only ones to vote against paid parking

Dawid Sarbak is the Law and Justice candidate for president, is 31 years old, has served as a councillor of the Bolesławiec City Council in its eighth term and is chairman of the Law and Justice Councillors’ Club in the City Council. In the interview, he declares his ideological neutrality as president. The candidate stressed that only Law and Justice councillors actually acted against the paid parking zone in the form presented by the president: only three Law and Justice councillors voted explicitly against it, one person abstained, and the rest of the councillors voted in favour.

Grażyna Hanaf: – Good morning, everyone. Today our guest is Dawid Sarbak, a presidential candidate representing Law and Justice. Good morning, Mr Sarbak.

Dawid Sarbak: – Good morning, editor, and good morning, everyone.

– In 2018, Wiesław Ogrodnik from Law and Justice received 1,383 votes in Bolesławiec, which was about 8%. How do you see your own result?

– Editor, ladies and gentlemen, I am running to win. I have certain ideas for the city and I know how to implement them. I would like Bolesławiec to be a welcoming place and a modern city with practical solutions. I already have some experience, because I have been an active councillor for more than five years, so I believe I will succeed.

– And more specifically? More than 1,400, or fewer? If fewer, I suspect you would not be running in the election...

– I expect many more, which is why I am running. I have to be there; I am convinced of it.

– All right, let’s look at the 2018 results. I have already mentioned the winners. But that was a very long time ago. Sixty-eight percent of people were satisfied with the president at the time. Let’s look at the 2023 parliamentary election, of course. There, well, the residents of Bolesławiec do not vote for Law and Justice. Around 60% voted against it. But we have something very interesting that may interest you. I’ll show you. We have information that most Bolesławiec residents nevertheless want the president to change. So what do you have for the residents of Bolesławiec? What do you think? Why do they want the president to change, and whom do they want instead?

– Editor, it is a survey, okay; the vote will take place at the ballot box. As I said, Bolesławiec needs a new perspective on these matters. Above all, it needs openness to residents and a major, genuine reorganisation of the paid parking zone. This zone must be thoroughly analysed again. Bolesławiec lacks parking spaces; vehicle turnover was not introduced in accordance with the documentation, as the officials themselves admitted. Through public consultations, which will be facilitated, among other things, by the Bolesławiec Wie app—one of the flagship ideas and election proposals of My City with an Idea—we will enable genuine, reliable consultations, including on reorganising the zone. It will also enable residents to obtain all the necessary information about what is happening in Bolesławiec and what enrolment in kindergartens looks like. We will probably also introduce modules concerning taxes. So, there are ideas for the city: countdown timers, motion detectors at intersections, construction...

– We will come back to that in a moment. The detectors are your idea, we know that—that is, those countdown timers that appeared there—but we will return to them shortly. You are talking about the paid parking zone. Do you think it will bring down Piotr Roman? According to our information and knowledge, it is people from outside Bolesławiec who are dissatisfied with the paid parking zone, while it is the residents of Bolesławiec who vote for the president.

– And you see, we have different sources of information. I really talk to residents and, colloquially speaking, this parking zone is a millstone around the neck of those currently in power. I must say this very firmly, and I am proud of it, because only the councillors from the Law and Justice club—that is, myself, Dawid Sarbak, Szymon Pogoda and Jadwiga Stachów—were against this zone in the form in which it was presented and in which it has operated to date. Right away—let me repeat, right away—in 2020, we noticed the problem of a lack of parking spaces. We knew it would not work. Vehicle turnover would not be introduced unless we focused on buffer parking lots. I will repeat this once again. The officials themselves admitted in a document that the main goal, namely increased vehicle turnover, had failed. Therefore, I firmly believe this will be one of the main arguments.

– I also remember that Impuls Lokalny began protesting very strongly against the parking arrangements. I know that the Coalition is also dealing with parking. Do all of you want to run on this one issue, on parking? Isn’t that too little?

– It is absolutely not too little, because it is one of our flagship programmes. But I would also like to refer to the fact that we have—so as not to sound too grandiose—a certain moral right, and we are proud that we were the only ones to notice this problem from the outset. We were the ones who actually acted against the zone in the form in which it was presented, because only three Law and Justice councillors explicitly voted against it, one person abstained, and the rest voted in favour. That is why we now have this problem to deal with.

– Let’s return to the app. We considered this app; as far as the app is concerned, I also relied on information from specialists. Have you spoken to any programmer yet about what it would look like? For example, do you know whether the interfaces for tax-related applications or systems would be compatible? Do you have a practical solution for this?

– Yes. This concerns, as you have already mentioned, specialised systems. I spoke with one company. I do not want to reveal which one. The basic modules within the app cost PLN 46,000 net. We can choose modules such as waste collection and basic information about city events. Of course, each additional module would cost approximately PLN 7,000, including the module for public consultations. So naturally, I conducted this research, because otherwise I would not have taken it on, and we will also look for a source of funding—funding from external sources. Bolesławiec has dealt very well with obtaining such external funds so far; I will add, without false modesty, that an enormous amount of money has been obtained from government funds over the past five years. The 2024 budget has record capital expenditure.

– I was going to ask about the app, but instead I’ll ask how a Law and Justice president would cooperate with the coalition government. We recently received funding for the swimming pool from the Polish Deal. But how would a Law and Justice president cooperate with a government made up of the Coalition, the Left and the Third Way? Do you think it would be easy for you in such circumstances?

– Editor, I cannot imagine not reaching agreements on matters concerning residents. I hope those governing the country will understand that local government is not a place for general nationwide politics. What matters here is the welfare of residents. So if they care about all citizens, they must talk to everyone and respond to their needs.

– All right, if you are open to all residents, will you assume patronage of the Equality March in Bolesławiec? And what about people who want to legally terminate their pregnancies—will you also be open to them? And same-sex couples—for example, would you officiate at the wedding of a same-sex couple as city president?

– Editor, perhaps I will put it very briefly. Without discussing patronage, or even merely consenting to such a march, I repeat that I am speaking as someone who holds—or might hold, after winning the election—the office of president of Bolesławiec. Above all, I cannot act contrary to the fundamental law, which is the Constitution. If the Constitution gives citizens, including the residents of Bolesławiec, the right to express their views, I cannot oppose that. The only thing I certainly would not allow would be the display of certain illuminations, whether from the right or the left, on the walls of the town hall. I believe the office should be fully apolitical and should deal with substantive matters concerning the office.

– I mean the Women’s Strike, which appeared on the town hall, although that probably will not happen under a coalition government, among other things. I would add that you, as president, would not issue permission for a march. People organise marches, they just... In short, without patronage, then? Would you lend your patronage to the March for Life and Family...?

– Editor... My private views have nothing to do with the matter of possibly taking office as president. That is my position. If I become president, I must be fully apolitical; I must simply act in accordance with the law and on its basis. So all matters—whether I like someone or not, whether I hold one private view or another—cannot be expressed on the local-government stage. That is what I declare.

– So neither the Equality March nor the March for Life and Family. You will be neutral like Switzerland.

– If that means fair, then yes.

– All right. One more question about the position of KRUS manager. Will you keep it? Was it political?

– Editor, I absolutely do not want to discuss that, because it is not connected at all with my possible presidency. A change of power has taken place. It will be a decision of the president of KRUS; it will be a decision of the director, and if such a decision is made, I will accept it, that is all. I will not protest.

– A question about the presidential campaign itself for a young man. You are the youngest candidate. Is it a major financial effort for a young person? You also have a family and certainly expenses connected with it.

– It is certainly some kind of financial effort, but I am able to undertake it.

– Now, the wonderful idea of a green zoo. I have a question: have you also consulted anyone about it? We consulted a company that deals with greenery, and they say it is very difficult to find someone. Are these beauties supposed to be made from hedges? Or is it meant to be like our Bolesławiec elephants—a structure filled with soil?

– Yes, it will be a structure made of greenery. It is generally an idea for developing urban greenery. It is meant to combine a certain attraction for Bolesławiec, another landmark of Bolesławiec, with great fun. It will also be for the youngest residents, who will be able to read about particular animal species and spend time outdoors. Residents will also be able to choose specific animals through surveys. We want to open up to residents. I want to treat them as participants, not as objects, including by allowing them to co-create what I can openly call this beautiful project.

– So, green elephants and beavers, and there will be no paid parking in Bolesławiec. That is how we will sum up this interview. Thank you very much for your openness and for speaking with your voters and our viewers. Thank you very much for the interview. Goodbye, everyone; goodbye.

– Thank you, everyone. Warm regards.