With an extensive reference to the operating procedures of the Economic Committee and the circumstances due to the pandemic, the Mayor of Kythera Efstratios Harhalakis responds to the faction «We live here» and the Municipal Councillor Manos Trifillis on the request the latter to send the items to be discussed to the members in good time. He argues that the whole procedure is done in accordance with the letter of the law and describes his protest as unfounded. Read the statement of the Mayor's statement in detail.
Announcement (Efstratios Harhalakis)
Due to the wide dispersion of coronavirus outbreaks on our island, the Economic Committee will meet on a rotating basis until the outbreaks are reduced. This procedure is provided for in the legislation as one of the ways of convening the collective bodies of the local government and is the exclusive responsibility of the President of the body. Both Opposition factions were informed last week of the reintroduction of the rotating meetings of the OC (for a short period of time).
The manner and timing of informing councillors of the recommendations of the items is not defined in the legislation in a restrictive manner, nor is it stipulated that the recommendations must be sent at the same time as the notice of the meeting. Moreover, to date, Mr. Trifyllis has voted in favor of dozens - if not hundreds - of items, the recommendations of which are usually sent out 1 day before the Finance Committee meeting. It is, moreover, clear that the Municipality of Kythera is called upon to manage projects unprecedented in its history with minimal staff, the size of whose budget (about 40 million) requires many times more employees than we have. Consequently, the recommendations are drawn up on the basis of what is feasible, BUT they are sent to the councillors in a timely manner, as required by law.
For the Municipal Authority, the most important thing is to tender and execute the projects, such as the Urban School and the fields in the River and Frilingianika, which are the subject of tomorrow's meeting of the Plenary Assembly, for which the minor minority is protesting. These projects have a total approved budget of €1,250,000 and their value and usefulness to the local community, we do not think that they need to be analysed.
In today's letter of the member of the Economic Committee Mr. Manos Trifillis, regarding the sending of the proposals, the Mayor of Kythera and President of the Economic Committee Mr. Efstratios Harhalakis, sent the following reply:
«Dear Mr. Trifyllis,
In accordance with Article 5 of Law 3852/2010, which sets out the rules governing the operation of the Economic Committee, the Chairman of the Committee shall invite its members to a meeting by written invitation, which shall include the items on the agenda. The invitation shall be posted on the Municipality's website (https://kythira.gr/oikonomiki-epitropi/) and shall be communicated to the members of the Committee at least three (3) full days before the day set for the meeting (except in the case of an extended meeting, in which case it may be sent on the same day).
A similar obligation for the contributions on the issues to be discussed is not defined in the Law, but, as you are well aware, we are firmly committed to a meaningful and constructive discussion of the issues, so that as a body the O.E. takes the right decisions, we ensure that the members of the Committee, for their convenience, receive in time, at least one (1) day in advance, the relevant contributions by e-mail.
I would point out that, specifically for the rotating meetings of the institution, it is stipulated that the President must send to the members in good time the proposals of the items, as well as the proposal on which the members are invited to vote on each item.
Consequently, based on the above, the receipt of the proposals one day before the meeting (as is usual, since many times the proposals are sent 2 or 3 days before the meeting or even simultaneously with the invitation), obviously satisfies the criteria of the Law, but also the need for timely information and for this reason I consider your protest to be inadmissible.
In any case, as we informed you, the rotating meetings have been resumed on an exceptional basis and for an extremely limited time (which we hope will not extend beyond this month), due to the very large spread of cases on our island and in order to protect the members of the O.U. belonging to vulnerable health groups.
The O.E. meets and will continue to meet regularly due to its many statutory responsibilities, but also due to the continuous tendering of projects that our Municipality has achieved in recent years and therefore we expect your votes on the items on the agenda.».
