Suggestions for amending municipal reform in Krasnoyarsk Krai have emerged.
Let's Dish on Krasnoyarsk's Municipal Reform:
May 14 saw an interesting meeting at the Zaksobranie of Krasnoyarsky Krai, where municipal reform amendments were under the spotlight. Deputies decided which changes required further discussion and which ones to kick to the curb. In the end, only one amendment made the cut for further debate.
The State Structure, Legislature, and Local Self-Government committee pondered over an amendment from the Governor, a stack of proposals from Deputy Alexei Boikov, and one from Novoselovsky Raion.
Alexander Ratakhin proposed removing the municipal reform discussion from the agenda, but the committee wasn't feeling it.
The Governor's amendment tackles the naming of districts consolidating into larger regions, suggesting dual names like Balakh tinsko-Novoselkovski or Bolshomurtinski-Sukhobuzimski.
For the nitty-gritty on this amendment, we dug deeper here.
During the discussion, deputies voiced their opinions not just on this amendment, but on the reform in general. Ilya Zai'ev, for example, stressed the need for immediate action on the law to begin budget planning and the formation of development programs for the new territories. Veria Oskina pointed out that the reform would have a transition period to solve its issues.
Andrei Novak urged caution, suggesting testing the reform on a few districts before implementing it across the entire region to assess its effectiveness. Yevgeniya Gorel'kov also raised questions about the necessity of immediately merging all districts into regions.
Svetlana Tsepelova, representative of the territorial administration of the Governor, had similar answers to many questions: Everything is being discussed, consultations are taking place, directives have been given. According to her, the existing territorial districts in the region (Pirovski, Tuyhchetski, Sharipovski, Severo-Yeniseiski) have already demonstrated their effectiveness, particularly in budget usage and speedy decision-making.
Merging several budgets into one would benefit territories, Svetlana Tsepelova explained: "Nobody's saying budgets will be smaller in volume, quite the opposite, it's said that the position won't worsen, the budget will be maintained, and efforts will be made to increase it."
Deputy Alexei Boikov inquired about the cost of the reform, for example, the creation of stamps, tablets, heraldry, and coats of arms.
Svetlana Tsepelova couldn't give the exact figure, as it's being calculated by the Krasnoyarsk Finance Department. Additionally, she stated that municipal institutions during district mergers would be reorganized, not liquidated, meaning a change of ownership wouldn't occur.
The issue of salaries for municipal workers, including heads of regions, was also raised. The salary won't decrease, and in areas where territories are consolidated, it may even increase. Thus, Svetlana Tsepelova responded to Alexander Ratakhin's question about the remuneration system for heads and staff of departments, which might be "lower than courier wages". Despite this, Deputy Boikov proposed paying based on efficiency, with the premium part depending on quality.
Nine amendments were proposed by Deputy Alexei Boikov, noting that residents in the districts had gathered signatures against the consolidation of districts.
The first amendment focused on the need for the addition of Zykovsky village council, meaning the village of Zykovka, villages Cuzen'tsovo and Lukino to Kransnoyarsk, not to Soevnovoborsk.
The arguments of the residents supporting this came down to one point: the settlements are closer to the regional center. For example, Cuzen'tsovo is roughly 2 km from the city border, while reaching Soevnovoborsk involves a 35 km drive.
Deputy Boikov also presented amendments concerning the preservation of Manki's, Tasei's, Sukhotetski's, Idrinskii's, Nizhnei'ngashi's, Eysi'iski's and Yenisei's districts' independence despite the transition to the status of regions, as well as Pirovskii region.
Moreover, a proposal for the election system changed: in regions, they suggested electing regional heads by popular vote, not appointed by the Governor, and in city districts, the decision about the voting method should be given to local government bodies.
Unfortunately, none of these amendments were approved for debate during the session.
Deputies Ilya Zai'ev and Irina Ivanova announced the need for a more transparent process for collecting resident signatures: it should be conducted through the official resource - "Rossiyskaya obshchestvennaya initsiativu", where signature verification is carried out through Goosluzhby.
Also, the proposal from Novoselovsky Council of Deputies was not supported: they requested that the district not be combined with Balakh tincky and be given the opportunity to become an independent district.
In the end, the Zaksobranie Committee backed the consideration of the municipal reform bill, taking into account only the Governor's amendment in the second reading, which will take place tomorrow, May 15.
Photos: DELA and Yandex.
The ongoing discussion in Krasnoyarsk's municipal reform extends to policy-and-legislation, with deputies expressing opinions not just on specific amendments, but on the reform itself. For instance, Ilya Zai'ev advocates for immediate action on the law to begin budget planning and development programs.
The politics surrounding the reform also include suggestions for transparency, such as Ilya Zai'ev and Irina Ivanova's proposal for a more transparent process for collecting resident signatures through an official resource like "Rossiyskaya obshchestvennaya initsiativu."
