Local councilors repeatedly angry at Chisinau mayor’s staff policy

A number of Chisinau municipal councilors accuse the general mayor of lacking transparency in appointing and sacking City Hall functionaries. The topic was re-tackled at the CMC’s last sitting, after mayor Dorin Chirtoaca reported to have fired the Economy Direction head Aurelia Porumbescu, Info-Prim Neo reports. Dorin Chirtoaca said Aurelia Porumbescu was replaced by Mihaela Iacob, who had worked as deputy head in the same direction. The mayor said Aurelia Porumbescu was proposed other positions within the City Hall, but she declined the offer. Some Councilors got angry with the decision to appoint a new head of the Economy Direction, accusing the mayor of lacking transparency, as he did not put up a contest for the position, as is legally due. The leader of the Social-Democrat councilors, Eduard Musuc, accused the mayor of displaying a defiant attitude towards the Council. The Moldova Noastra Alliance councilor, Oleg Cernei, suggested the mayor to be firm in every way, including in appointing or dismissing municipal functionaries. The mayor reiterated he assumed all the moves he made in the administration during his mayoralty, including concerning the personnel policy. The mayor was requested in February to report before the CMC on the staff policy he was promoting since the last local elections in summer, 2007. The local councilors accused the mayor then of repeatedly violating the law because of not putting the leading posts to contest.