Milan Bandić would allocate 15 percent or 814 million kuna from the Zagreb budget for the work of local self-government

Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić announced on Saturday at a party gathering about the developmental potentials of local self-government in the City of Zagreb that for 2017 he intends to propose that 15 percent or 814 million kuna be allocated from the city budget for the work of local self-government instead of five percent. Bandić emphasized that his desire and intention is to professionalize the work of the presidents of the city district councils and to strengthen them with professional people who would assist the president and council members in fulfilling their obligations. He noted that there will be no new hiring for this purpose, as current employees of the City Administration will perform these tasks. He also highlighted that local committees would have their own ‘mini-budgets’ and could also make decisions about priorities in their area.

– “It is not natural for the City Administration or the city district to propose which street will be asphalted, which park will be arranged, or which playground will be built. These decisions must be made at the level of the local committee where people live. They will certainly be the best controllers of budget spending and the most effective oversight of the execution of contracted works in their streets or neighborhoods,” said Bandić.

– “Some call it direct and participatory democracy, and I call it the work program of the Party of Labor and Solidarity,” Bandić stated at his party’s gathering, where he invited his colleagues to help create the party’s program for the upcoming elections.

– “We have rich experience in fieldwork, and it is time to create frameworks for true citizen participation in decision-making in 21st century Zagreb. Together we are building 21st century Zagreb, let us be active participants in the ‘Smart City,'” he urged.

He explained that a “Smart City” can only become a city that utilizes the knowledge, skills, competencies, and abilities of every citizen and announced that the City Administration, led by him as mayor, is ready for this leap.

Bandić announced that at the party assembly at the end of the year, he would propose that his name and surname and 365 be removed from the party’s name and that the party be called the Party of Labor and Solidarity, instead of Bandić Milan 365 – Party of Labor and Solidarity. He explained to journalists that his name and surname in the title were necessary while the party was being established.