The local public authorities should make effort to ensure access to information and transparency in the decision-making process, Vasile Cioaric, project coordinator at CONTACT Center, said during a two-day training course held at the mayor’s office in Straseni, Info-Prim Neo reports. “We have a new body of councilors. Many of the local councils changed and more than a half of the new councilors need knowledge about transparency in decision making. The councilors must know that they can adopt efficient decisions only by involving the public in decision making,” said Vasile Cioaric. According to him, it is important that the local elected authorities realize that a decision that is not discussed with the population has fewer chances of being accepted, especially if it refers to unpopular measures to raise the local taxes and tariffs. Vasile Cioaric also said that the public servants in Straseni take measures to ensure transparency in decision making, but there is yet a lot to do. Iness Sarcu, a member of the Straseni Local Council representing the Liberal Party, said that in order to ensure transparency in the decision-making process it is important to ensure communication with the people and to employ skilled specialists. The training course “Strengthening local public authorities’ capacities by training the local elected authorities” was held within the Domestic Election Monitoring and Voter Education in Moldova - Strengthening of Capacities and International Networking Project. The project is implemented by the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections that includes the National Assistance and Information Center for NGOs CONTACT in partnership with the European Exchange Association. It is financed by the European Union.