Our View: Local government reform needs a rethink
It is a positive development that Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou, has decided to revisit the botched reform of local government, which resulted from years of chopping and changing the plans by the political parties whose only concern was creating a maximum number of jobs for their people.
This was exemplified by the creation of 93 sinecures for so-called deputy mayors. These deputy mayors have no duties or responsibilities and work only if the mayor gives them a task to perform. If the mayor does not give them any job, because he/she does not trust them or feels threatened by them they do nothing for the generous monthly wage they are paid. The total cost of these 93 sinecures is €2.3 million a year, not to mention the state pensions they are paid for not working.
Ioannou has decided that this cannot be allowed to go on. Last week his ministry had proposals approved by which deputy mayors would be assigned responsibilities not of an executive nature. He explained his plan at a meeting with a delegation of the Union of Municipalities telling the members that they would oversee issues of cleanliness and the condition of infrastructure, parks and green areas. They would also monitor matters of social welfare and coherence, said Ioannou.
The taxpayer must receive something in return for the €2.3m being paid to these officials without authorities and responsibilities. The parties which created all these posts did not deem it necessary to supply a rudimentary job description for the deputy mayor. At least Ioannou admitted that his proposals are not a solution, and the institution of deputy mayors was a part of the reform in need of re-design. The ministry was working on tackling the deputy mayor conundrum with the aim of discussing proposed changes with the new legislature that will be elected next year.
The big number of deputy mayors is just a small part of the botched reform, which failed to reduce the number of municipalities adequately with the result that there are still too many for them to be financially viable and self-sufficient. Ioannou recognized this weakness as well and said he was also considering additional mergers of municipalities. There are currently 20, which is far too many. One group of foreign consultants who were brought in to offer advice on the reform said five would be enough, while another group proposed eight. The previous government proposed 18 and we ended up with 20.
Five would be the ideal number of municipalities. They would be financially and administratively viable and they would not have to go to the central government with the begging bowl every year or two as is the case now. The reform was supposed to end this dependence on the central government, but it did not. If Ioannou is serious about engaging in another bout of reform of local authority, he should do his homework and draft proposals that will ensure viable, self-sufficient and efficient municipalities. And the government should be prepared to fight the parties, because compromise would ensure another botched reform.