Chisinau mayor doesn’t accept ‘orders’ from the Government

Chisinau Mayor General Dorin Chirtoaca requested the civil servants in the City Hall to refrain from using the notion of ‘order’ in the local administration’s acts when it comes to the relationship between the City Hall and the central authorities. The mayor stated at Monday’s City Hall meeting that “the local public administration functions on the basis of the local autonomy principle, thus the documents from other institutions must only be referred to as ‘requests’ or ‘appeals’, given that there are no subordination ties”. Dorin Chirtoaca also requested the employees of the City Hall to respect the principle of access to information, to be inventive and to evaluate their performances on a weekly and monthly basis. “Responses to petitions or any other documents addressed to the City Hall must be given in due time, even before the expiry of the prescribed term of 30 days. They mustn’t be empty, but provide concrete solutions to what the citizen needs to do. The responses must refer the citizen to either a direct, intermediary, or potential solution. A response leaving the citizen all at sea cannot help us build a sustainable relationship with the citizens”, the mayor underlined. In what concerns the access to information, Chirtoaca said that no matter where the requests comes from, either press or citizens, the civil servant must immediately provide the information if available – either by issuing a copy, by telephone, or through public interviews. The mayor asked the functionaries to be more creative and not to wait every time for an indication. “Through indications alone, we will not manage to get over the situation that has been challenging the City Hall in the last couple of years. Each division has to manage the present state of affairs and to plan activities for the following period, so as stop acting like firemen”, the mayor said.