Although two city companies producing electricity, Brno’s buses are still not guaranteed energy for next year, Jirků pointed out
19/09/2022 15:00 | Conversation
If the coalition is split into two irreconcilable camps, the governance of the city cannot be in order. It is with these words that Milan Jirků comments on the events at the Brno municipality, who, together with the former first deputy mayor Robert Kotzian, offers the so-called third force to the residents of Brno in this year’s municipal elections. “We refer to the third force as saying that the point of electing those who argue so much that they are willing to sink even such a fundamental thing as the new regional plan,” explains Jirků, who also reveals details of the election program of the Brno Plus group and Free. “What the city can do, without slipping into building municipal socialism, and thereby creating other problems at the present time, is to build cooperative apartments, which are the way to live in the era,” Milan Jirků covers the lid of the plans.
On their website, they claim that the disputes between Mayor Vaňková and Náměstí Hladíka are damaging Brno. Why do you think so?
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After all, we see it repeatedly. The most significant victims are the new spatial plan, which ended up under the table after twenty years of preparation, the failure to provide electricity for public transport or the situation around the Hospital of the Merciful Brothers. However, we don’t even know much. Czech Radio recently published long-term analysis of the Brno coalition vote, from which its disintegration and the disputes of the two main coalition partners clearly follow. If the coalition is split into two irreconcilable camps, the governance of the city cannot be in order.
Before the elections, it is common for everyone to argue with everyone, only to become coalition partners again after the elections. Do you not think that this scenario will be repeated in Brno as well, and Ms. Vaňková and Mr. Hladík will once again form a post-election coalition?
The camps of Mrs. Vaňková and Mr. Hladík, the ODS and the People’s Party, are made up of political pragmatists. So it is possible that it is reconnecting as a last resort. But first, they will exhaust all other options in the post-election negotiations so that they will lead the new coalition.
At the same time, you refer to your Brno Plus and Svobodní groups as a third force. Should the voter perceive it as your ambition for the third place in the order of elected political parties for the Brno council?
We call ourselves the third force in order to say that there is no point in electing those who argue so much that they are willing to sink even such a fundamental thing as the new territorial plan. We brand ourselves in such a way as to let the voters know that they do not have to vote for those who quarrel and thereby sink the city, and that there is a third party here who has the full ability to stand at the head of Brno and has enough experience to do so. Our candidate for mayor, Robert Kotzian, was a successful first deputy mayor, he was the mayor of the city district and has been actively participating in Brno’s municipal politics for twenty years. His knowledge and experience are a guarantee that the choice of Brno Plus and Svobodní is a good one.
Photogallery: – Mafia column
In your election program, you talk about the fact that the parking permit fee, i.e. the entrance fee to residential parking, is basically just a tax on the car, so you want to reduce it to a minimum. But won’t this money be missing from the budget, and won’t there paradoxically be an overcrowding of resident zones?
A distinction must be made between parking and parking permit fees. A parking fee is an amount that is paid for parking a specific car for a certain period of time. That is, the amount that you “pay at the machine” when you need to park. In contrast, the parking permit fee is a flat rate that citizens pay once a year for their cars; for being able to stand in front of their houses in blue zones at all. So it’s basically just car tax. And low taxes and minimal regulation are the basis of a healthy economy and a good place to live.
In terms of security in the city, you also talk about the risks of illegal immigration from the Muslim world and its effects on the security of residents. Is Brno really at risk of something like this?
The situation is getting worse. We read it regularly in the media. The interior minister recently said that Turkey had opened the floodgates of mostly Syrian immigrants to Europe. The new routes lead precisely through South Moravia. We are the only ones to respond to this risk in our program. Non-populist and matter-of-fact. We want to add to the city’s documents a safe strategic immigration from the Muslim world and its effects on the safety of the residents. this is because there is a risk for Brno to use these immigrants. We know very well that for now we are only a transit country. We also know that this is far from the city’s biggest problem. But I think it is responsible to also think about the threats that can manifest themselves in a longer time. There are too many frightening examples of timely solutions to this issue across Europe.
The people around them are slowly changing their behavior, and thus the risk that illegal immigrants will stay in the Czech Republic, either willingly or unwillingly. Brno is a city that could become their goal for several reasons. German police unions push for border control with our country. Slovakia and Hungary practically do not fulfill readmission agreements and do not take immigrants back. Austria tightens border controls. The police of the Czech Republic repeatedly reports extraordinary movements of immigrants in southern Moravia. This is a real problem.
Photogallery: – Malbork Teutonic Castle
Among other things, you promise the residents of Brno that you will establish municipal housing cooperatives, which should help make housing more affordable. How specifically should these cooperatives function and how do you ensure that housing is cheaper than in the case of private development projects?
Housing prices are really extreme. What the city can do without at the same time slipping into building communal socialism and creating more problems in the future is to build cooperative apartments, which are a way to own housing in difficult times. Cooperatives will establish municipal companies, and their essence is that people will not have to meet the harsh conditions of banks for the provision of a mortgage loan. After paying the annuity, they get the right to transfer the apartment to personal ownership. In addition, membership rights in the cooperative are negotiable and inherited. This is a significant difference compared to a regular city apartment. People pay only the single price of the apartment and share in the costs of operating the cooperative.
Like many other cities, Brno is dealing with the effects of the energy crisis. If you get the confidence of the voters, how do you want to deal with this problem? Will you leave energy solutions to the state alone, or will you strive for local solutions?
Social and tax policy, as well as legislative solutions to the energy crisis, are not within the competence of the city. But it can help individuals by not making city services more expensive due to high inflation. We therefore want public transport fares, fees for municipal waste, etc. not to increase in 2023. The city’s responsibility in the area of energy security is primarily to ensure the functioning of the city’s basic services. Public transport must run, public lights must be on, water supplies must work, etc. Nevertheless, the Brno transport company still does not have electricity or gas for buses secured for the year 2023. at the same time, two municipal companies process electricity, burning municipal waste and wood chips. , so that the electricity produced in this way is as much as We want and that it serves primarily for the supply of city services, i.e. to serve for the operation of public transport, public lighting, etc. We also support the project of a biogas station, which will produce gas for city buses from biowaste.
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author: Karel Excellent