At the beginning of his term on the City Council, mayoral candidate Dominik Chodyra (a Law and Justice councillor) pledged to donate his councillor allowance to scholarships for young people. It was the councillor’s only initiative worth noting, because during his four years as a councillor, Dominik Chodyra was absent from about half of the sessions and committee meetings he had joined. We wrote about his 53-percent absenteeism in the article “The Laziest Councillors”.

Chodyra’s scholarship programme was launched in 2007. The “Klub Aloha” Association, which the councillor himself belongs to, was responsible for implementing it. Scholarship applications stopped arriving in February 2009, and over three editions through 2010, no one voluntarily submitted an application. Because there were no applications in three consecutive editions, the scholarship committee decided to allocate PLN 3,500 to support the activities of social assistance institutions, including Caritas and MOPS. In total, 26 students received scholarships worth PLN 10,900. After deducting PLN 2,200 from the councillor’s allowances—the money allocated to cover campaign costs and organisational expenses—approximately PLN 35,000 remained. It is not known why, over four years, neither Dominik Chodyra nor the “Klub Aloha” Association managed to distribute this money.

Publicly, Dominik Chodyra complained in an election interview that his initiative had not been sufficiently promoted in the media. He himself informed all lower-secondary schools about the opportunity to submit applications, but no one has sent in an application for almost a year and a half.

The scholarship regulations state that the programme was intended to develop the individual abilities and talents of lower-secondary-school students from poor and unemployed families. A beautiful and noble goal—perfect for recalling during an election campaign. But between writing the programme, transferring the allowances, and developing talents and helping young people lies a very long road. And it requires a great deal of hard work.

(information ii)