The municipal coalition issued a press release, «Kythira, Antikythira – We’re Staying Here,», regarding the proceedings of the recent city council meeting. The document records the faction’s agreement on most items on the agenda, but reiterates its objection to the meeting hours and disapproval is expressed regarding the refusal to hold in-person meetings of the Finance Committee.
Read the full press release:
The fifth meeting of the Kythira Municipal Council began with the chairman’s reluctance to reschedule the meetings for the afternoon so that the working council members could attend. This was the reason for the abstention of Mr. Panagopoulos’s faction.
Our comments during the briefing phase addressed the following issues.
-We have called for the finalization of decisions regarding support for businesses in 2021 concerning common areas and fees. The current uncertainty—for which the current government bears primary responsibility—is leading to the collapse of businesses rather than supporting them.
-It has been revealed that the Municipality of Kythira will not be included in the announced recruitment of specialists for the technical department to implement projects funded by the NSRF and the Recovery Fund. .
Instead of creating jobs and properly prioritized projects on the island, the Mayor of Kythira is prioritizing support for the Islands Network, which is actually headquartered in Leonidio, Kynouria—an organization over which the Municipal Council has no oversight.
-The refusal to hold in-person meetings of the Finance Committee continues, resulting in the failure to review the proposals and contributions of its members. Notably, while the mayor described in-person meetings of the seven-member body as lawful, he took his leave as soon as we requested one…
-The live streaming of the meetings remains “pending.” On the positive side, we should note the mayor’s commitment to upload meeting recordings via Zoom to the municipality’s website.
We were in agreement on most of the items on the agenda.
-We were there upon receipt of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP). We have demonstrated that it is incomplete, sloppy, and rushed, and that it fails to take the island’s unique characteristics into account. The current plan is truly a missed opportunity for the island to acquire a robust tool for development and for securing funding from European sources. Following the mayor’s clarifications regarding the possibility of updating the SBAK, we agreed to submit our comments in writing. Moreover, some of these have already been submitted to Deputy Mayor Sougiannis and concern all the settlements omitted from the study, parking areas, charging stations, and a reordering of priorities.
-We disagreed regarding the tourism promotion program. We have repeatedly pointed out the shortcomings of the Tourism Committee. Yesterday’s presentation is yet another proof that the issue of tourism promotion is not a priority for the municipal administration. It is a monument to amateurism and a lack of focus. We will not dwell on the oversight mentioned—that the brochures already designed by the creator of the tourism logo will be reprinted. Nor will we dwell on the fact that 37,200 euros will be spent on printing materials that will need to be updated next year. Among other things, the proposal does not focus on online promotion, does not include cost estimates for TV commercials and radio airtime, does not take advantage of the high vaccination rate and the existence of Trifyllio Hospital, does not target Thessaloniki, and, of course, is once again coming too late in the season. It is noteworthy that the chairman of the tourism committee, Mr. Lourantos, agreed with our approach, as recorded in the minutes. We also offered to contribute to this issue, knowing full well that the tourism committee is currently inactive.
-Finally, we express our satisfaction with the implementation of the p, even though it came 15 months laterour proposal to establish a cross-party committee to address the consequences of uncontrolled installation of industrial renewable energy facilities. Our presence has safeguarded the unifying solution that ensures our municipality remains committed to balanced development, by leveraging all aspects of the local economy and protecting the natural and built environment. Our steadfast position is that, in the face of such a serious threat to our region, what we must emphasize is “strength in unity.”.
Kontoleon Dimitris
Didymiotis George
Manos Trifyllis Manos
