Publication note
This text was originally published in the April issue of the monthly Osmička, the newsletter of the Prague 8 district. The April issue is available in the Prague 8 PDF archive.
Looking at this year's Prague 8 budget, you cannot believe your eyes: in places the documents literally copy last year's budget. And the one before that. The ODS–ANO coalition, with the support of SPD, has perfected its 'copy and paste' method /Ctrl C, Ctrl V/ here, copying long passages from its own text of last year.
At the council meeting I could not resist and read a few of them out… But it is futile, the coalition is asleep. That is why it has no results and Prague 8 is stagnating. What it can do is inflate running costs.
Because I care about the state of the municipal purse, I am worried by increases in opaque items such as 'consultancy, legal services and expert opinions'. Or when spending on IT goes up this year, where it is harder to check how much it should cost.
But when I read in the budget that the restoration of the Žabák statue and the Prameník fountain is to be carried out this year as well, I despair: nothing against these projects, but why are they not finished after a whole term of office? How is it that they keep one deputy mayor busy full time?
What would we like to see?
First, a mayor who can set out the big priorities. Prague 8 can spend around CZK 150 million a year on investment, but we need to know where our money goes and why, and when the work will be finished.
Second, we would like a budget that pays more attention to residents' opinions. That means a town hall that collects proposals, checks whether they are feasible and puts them to a vote.
And third, we want Prague 8 not just to sleep, but to be able to take the initiative. Take the unfinished Nová Palmovka building, whose future is still up in the air: if a space agency does not end up here, the town hall should have a plan for what it wants here and pursue it.