Reorganization Concept of Chisinau’s Administration is inopportune, unjustified, and inefficient. IPN Economic Analysis

The way they try to optimize the structure and the personnel chart of the Mayoralty and of the municipal services is nor opportune neither justified and efficient, declares for Info-Prim Neo the economic analyst, independent municipal Councilor, Mihai Roscovan. [Digressed Realities] The expert states that, in the context of administrative reforms, the organizational structure of the municipal administration was liable to many optimization attempts. But these interventions were performed, as a rule, under the influence of political factors, and as a result have at present a standard structure proposed by the central Government, which admits double functions, stimulates bureaucracy and corruption, is not adjusted to the necessities of the population and does not comply with the legal norms. The main dysfunction in the activity of the Mayoralty regards the organizational aspect and that is the reason why a new administration structure is needed. Nevertheless, the modality by which it is tried to implement it is inopportune, unjustified, and inefficient. [Reorganization at the Government’s order and for the interest of the “family”] Mihai Roscovan mentions that the present reorganization is made grounding on the Governmental Decision 269 from 14.03.2006 on the modification of other normative acts, inclusively the Decision 668 from 10.06.2003 on the structure and personnel of the village (commune), city (municipality) Mayoralties. Through the Decision nr.14 from 18.05.2004, the Constitutional Court decided that the Governmental Decision nr. 668 is a recommendation document and can not be an obligatory normative act. Taking into consideration the mistakes of the Communist Party during the elections of the General Mayor in 2005, taking „by force” the positions of deputy mayor and the further pressure and staff cleaning from the administration, as well as the local elections planned for 2007, the present reorganization can be qualified as an attempt to totally subordinate the Mayoralty and the subdivisions of Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) to the interests of the „family” and a scuffle with the “disloyal” employees, states the analyst. [Unjustified reorganization] The authors of the reorganization do not offer arguments in the favour of personnel diminishing and also do not justify why a structure with 741 employees would be more optimal than a structure with 832 employees. The reorganization is not justified because it refers to the total number of dismissed unities without taking into consideration specific positions and the reasons of reducing namely these functions. At the same time the experience of the cities from the neighbor countries proves that both the level of financial autonomy and the number of employees per capita is by far higher than in the capital of Moldova. [Inopportune reorganization] At present, within two Parliamentary commissions is being shaped a series of draft laws on the modification of the legislative framework in force in the area of local public administration and administration of the public finances. The European Commission monitors the planned amendments, which need essential changes of the legislation in force and after the local general elections will lead to the obligatory organizational restructure of the Mayoralty and adjusting it to the new legal provisions. That is the reason why the reorganization of the structure and changing the staff charts is inopportune now, before elections, Mihai Roscovan considers. [Personnel reduction with bigger costs] The estimations made by the expert show that the planned personnel reduction needs supplementary expenses of 625 thousand lei in 2006. In this way, the wages fund approved for the budget for 2006 is of 16.5 million lei plus the wage increases of about 9 million lei, approved by the Parliament. In the case of the reorganization the annual wage fund will amount to 24.5 million lei. Superficially, it might appear that 929 thousand lei will be saved. Thus, according to the Law on Civil Service in case of the liquidation or reorganization of public authorities or personnel reduction, the dismissed employees must receive an allowance of 6 average month wages if the length of service is not less than two years, and also an indemnity for unemployment equal to an average wage. Complying with this or other similar provisions will require a sum of 1.5 million lei. To this expenses will also add those for changing the booklets, stamps etc of the 4 departments that will change their name or will be completely reorganized. In these estimations were not included inconveniencies and the social frustration of the dismissed personnel. [Unproductive reorganization] The draft reorganization is directed to serious dismissals but with few, superficial changes. It does not propose a modern and clear structure of interaction between departments and services and does not include the optimization of the organizational structure. As well, the proposed staff chart does not determine exactly the interaction between CMC, General Mayor, deputy Mayors, and departments with the establishment of the interdepartmental communication inflows. The staff chart does not allow to set (i) the type of organizational structure, (ii) the hierarchy and the authority lines; (iii) hierarchic levels. In this way, at present, the Mayoralty does not have an integrated staff chart, which would include all its services, following the models of European capitals. As a result, the new organization will not lead to creating operative settling conditions for the public needs, ends Mihai Roscovan. He also considers unacceptable the fact that the draft does not include provisions that would contribute to improving the quality of the services offered to the citizen. In the staff chart can not be found such structures as Unique desk or Information Center that would ease the communication between citizens and civil servants or would ensure transparency of the Mayoralty’s activities and municipal services. As well, structures responsible for attracting foreign investments like the Department for Projects Administration are not included. The expert affirms that it was not taken into account the numerous interpellations to examine the possibility of self-administration of some subdivisions as the Publicity Service, which, since the communists took over Chisinau, reduced the amount of accumulations to the budget 5-fold. Moreover, according to the new structure the Department of Management and Audit is practically liquidated, an obligatory subdivision, subordinated directly to the General Mayor, aimed to supervise the legitimacy and the efficient use of the municipality’s public finances. The deficiency in the activity of the Mayoralty is evident and of course is needed to change the norms that regulate its organization. Thus, the reorganization drafts must comply with the present necessities according to the standards of the public management. The Restructuring must base on the provisions of the “General Urban Plan Concept of Chisinau municipality nr 9/5 from 06.04.2004 as well as on the standards of a modern administrative management, Mihai Roscovan considers, economic analyst, independent municipal councilor, interviewed by Info-Prim Neo.