Reelected Bucharest mayor plans referendum on city budget, urban planning

Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan intends to hold a referendum on how the city’s budget is divided between the general city hall and the district ones and on themes related to urban planning.

He made the announcement in the speech he delivered after the first exit poll results on the June 9 local elections were announced. Preliminary results presented by Rezultate Votshow Dan winning 47% of the votes, more than 20 percentage points ahead of the runner-up Gabriela Firea.

Dan, who ran as an independent supported by the United Right Alliance (ADU), argued that Bucharest is experiencing a “development deficit.” The general city hall cannot plan large projects because it doesn’t have the funds to back them, he said, and “the money barely covers the maintenance of the infrastructure we have.”

“We cannot think about expanding public transport, building more hospitals, or more buildings for universities. Instead, we have more sidewalk borders and pansies replacing other pansies,” he said, referencing projects of district mayors.

“With the approval of the General Council, we will organize a referendum on how the budget will be divided between the Bucharest City Hall and the district city halls.”

He also spoke about a referendum on who is in charge of urban planning in the city. He said it was absurd to hold the Bucharest mayor accountable for the traffic in the city as long as district mayors issue construction permits whose legality nobody checks. “I can take on the responsibility of solving the city’s traffic issues, but I am asking Bucharest residents to give me the responsibility for the urban planning,” Dan said.

The mayor also asked the parliamentary parties and the candidates for the presidential elections to weigh in on the urbanism law and the one on green areas, currently under debate in Parliament. “This is the only way for Bucharest residents to manage, through their elected representatives, their green areas and the city’s urban development, and not let these be decided through behind-the-scenes games,” he argued.

(Photo: USR Facebook Page)