There are moments when you listen to a public statement and wonder whether you really heard it correctly. That was the case with Bolesławiec Mayor Piotr Roman’s address during the June session of the City Council, when he spoke about support for festivals organized by parish communities.
Among other things, the mayor said:
“As long as I am the mayor here, please do not worry. These kinds of festivals will always receive support, because this is an initiative that builds community, and a community based on values. All those who believe that these kinds of festivals should not be supported will be deeply disappointed for some time yet. And may it always be so.”
And then even stronger words were spoken:
“Twenty-four years ago, we removed the communists from City Hall. At present, there is an attempt to bring them back.”
And here, to put it mildly, the mayor seems to have lost the plot.
People can debate whether the city should support parish festivals. They can debate whether local government should support some initiatives, support others less, and not support still others at all. They can debate the criteria, the money, the promotion, the resources of municipal units, and the equal treatment of event organizers. That is normal public debate.
But when the mayor of a city starts talking about the “return of communists” to City Hall, the matter ceases to be normal debate. It becomes the casting of serious political insinuations, without identifying facts, people, circumstances, or evidence.
From experience, I know that Mayor Piotr Roman can throw out various absurdities and inventions under the guise that “someone told him something,” that “he knows something,” that “there are attempts,” “certain circles,” or “certain actions.” Yet when the moment for specifics arrives, when simple questions are asked—who, when, where, on what basis, and what evidence there is—there is no answer.
Everything happens partly by scaring people, partly by stirring emotions, and partly by creating an atmosphere of threat. Then, when a journalist officially asks what the mayor meant, silence suddenly falls.
On June 24, we sent questions to the mayor’s press spokeswoman. Among other things, we asked whether the declaration that “these kinds of festivals will always receive support” means a permanent city policy toward events organized by parish communities. We asked what specific support the festival in question had received. We asked what criteria the city uses to provide such support. We also asked whom the mayor had in mind when he said that people “will be deeply disappointed.”
Finally, we asked about the most important matter: whom did the words about “removing the communists from City Hall twenty-four years ago” refer to, and who is now allegedly attempting to bring them back? Did the mayor mean specific people? Councilors? Political circles? Residents?
Today is July 5. There is no answer.
And that is not good. Quite simply.
Mayor Piotr Roman is a politician with very long experience. He is not a newcomer who let something slip because he does not yet understand the weight of public words. He is a man who has governed the city for years, knows the mechanisms of politics, understands what a City Council session is, and knows that his words matter.
All the more reason why he should take responsibility for them.
A politician with such experience should have class. He should set standards. He should maintain high standards. He should weigh his words, especially when speaking as the mayor of a city rather than as a private commentator making political jabs.
Instead, we have a situation in which the mayor says whatever he wants during a session, throws around slogans about “communists,” suggests vague threats, divides residents into those “of values” and those who will be “deeply disappointed,” and then cannot or will not support any of it with anything concrete.
This is not a high standard of public debate. It is not responsibility for one’s words. It is not class.
If the mayor knows of some “attempt to bring communists back” to power in Bolesławiec, let him say whom he means. If he has evidence, let him present it. If he meant specific councilors, residents, or circles, he should have the courage to say so directly. And if it was merely a political figure of speech, thrown out to heat up the atmosphere and cast opponents as enemies of the community, then all the more should he explain himself.
Because Bolesławiec is not any politician’s private fiefdom. City Hall is not a place for casting insinuations without taking responsibility. A City Council session is not an election rally or a pulpit for scaring residents.
The mayor may support festivals. He may believe they are important. He may speak about community, integration, and values. But if he turns this into a political spectacle in which “communists” allegedly returning to City Hall appear, he must expect questions.
And since he does not answer the questions, he himself provides a testimony to the value of his statement.
It is easiest to throw out a strong slogan during a session. It is harder to face the facts afterward and say: yes, I know what I said, and I can justify it.
So far, Mayor Roman has not done so.