Four in the race for Bucharest city manager job

Constantin Drăgan, Sorin Chiriță, Pavel Marian Popoacă and Bogdan Alexandru Suditu are the four candidates shortlisted in the contest to appoint the capital’s city manager, Agerpres reported. Sorin Chiriță is the special administrator of the Bucharest thermal energy distributor RADET. Bogdan Suditu is a university professor who worked at the Regional Development Ministry between 1997 and 2012 as a coordinator of the Policies for Living department. At the end of February, the Bucharest City Hall General Council established the city manager position, directly subordinated to the capital’s mayor. Depending on the number and importance of delegated duties, the city manager can organize, coordinate and manage the activity of the Bucharest City Hall, as “a partner of the top management in the process of adopting strategic decisions,” according to the General Council decision. The mayor can delegate to the city manager, within the provisions of the law, the right to manage the credits approved from the institution’s budget. The city manager position was introduced to “professionalize local administration by improving and streamlining the system of providing services to the citizens,” according to the motivation presented by the capital’s mayor Gabriela Firea. The written part of the competition will take place on May 25. The interview part will be scheduled later, within at most four working days after the written one. The bibliography for the contest includes Romania’s Constitution and 38 laws, ordinances, government decisions, and decisions of the Bucharest General Council. Bucharest is not the first Romanian city to name a city manager. Alba Iulia, a town in central Romania, has had a city manager for several years already. editor@romania-insider.com