Ondřej Gros for Blesk: How does he want to solve neglected Palmovka, clogged Zenklova and other problems?
Blesk.cz: You have been involved in municipal politics since 1998, and you were already the mayor of the last election period, did you expect at the end of it that you would again sit at the head of the town hall after the elections?
Ondřej Gros: “Of course, we went into the elections with the idea that we wanted to win, and I think we did quite a bit for that. Based on how I had the opportunity to perceive the moods of my fellow citizens, I felt that I was satisfied and I don’t want it to sound presumptuously, that we would perhaps one hundred percent expect victory, but I felt that it was on the right track.”
Would you see it for one more time after this period? Are you thinking about it?
“I can’t predict that at all now, I don’t know how we will be, one can also succumb to some sort of burnout syndrome. The last election period was already very demanding, since 1998, when I have been in the council, I do not remember a more demanding election period. We went through the covid pandemic, with the actions, the state of emergency with breaks lasted more than a year, it had a significant impact on the economy, it was really from Prague. Thank God, the people are excellent and they managed it brilliantly.”
Would you find something positive about the past four years? What did you do well in the past period?
“I consider it a great success that we managed to stabilize the city district in terms of the budget. We took over the office in a very bad state and we managed to fix it. Of course, it was at the cost of the fact that we had to slim down the office and lay off quite a few people. We also solved the problem with Nova Palmovka, when we solved the debt that the eight had with the municipality in the amount of approximately 300 million crowns, by transferring the building to the city, which in turn will contribute regularly to the district budget for five years. Now the year 2023 awaits us, and due to the expensive energies, we will try to somehow survive it.”
You mention the bad financial situation quite often in interviews, is Prague 8 in a significantly worse situation compared to other parts of the city?
“It is difficult to compare, the situation of each district is very different. Due to the fact that there was budgetary irresponsibility here between 2014-18, we were in a really bad situation at the beginning of the last election period. Not only were the financial reserves spent, but we still had on the neck of Nova Palmovka with the debt to the municipality. We got rid of all that and I don’t want us to hand it over to our successors the way we took it over in 2018. That’s why I always say that financial stability must be the first priority and only then can we talk about other plans.”
What would you like to tackle in the next four years?
“The basic priority is really to maintain some budgetary responsibility, and it will be very challenging. However, I would be happy if we managed to secure the construction of a primary school on Rohanské Island during this period, I do not want to promise whether we will be able to dig into the ground, given the length of the construction period management in this country probably won’t succeed, but at least I want it to be possible to build as soon as possible. We also expect progress in Nová Palmovce, there is a memorandum of cooperation between the municipality and the state. I have confirmation from the Ministry of Transport that the Agency could move there in 2025 EU space program (EUSPA). I consider this to be a definite benefit, and I hope that this will also improve the entire location around Palmovka, because at the moment it is not a very good business card for Prague 8.”
Cleanliness and safety in the vicinity of Palmovka is a big topic, do you have any tools to solve this situation before the location with Nova Palmovka is transformed?
“This is a long-term problem in Prague, most of the land owned by the cities is either a smaller one or a transport company. The city police is also not commanded by the city district or its mayor, which was also a requirement of the Assembly of Mayors that part of the powers over the city police be entrusted to the town halls. who have their local knowledge, know where the problems are and where the police are needed. We’ll see if the new municipal representation will help the city districts in this regard.”
Another sensitive topic is the eternally congested Zenklova street, won’t he find a solution for it?
“Zenklova Street is an example of the fact that the reconstruction of the street with a progressive approach has gotten to the point where every afternoon there are not only traffic jams, but because the cars were brought onto the tracks as part of the reconstruction, there are also full trams and everyone is angry. In in 2023, all guarantees end here and we will start negotiations with the municipality to take some measures to improve the situation. The key is to get the cars off the tracks.”
What do you see as the biggest long-term problem of Prague 8?
“I see a problem, for example, in the feeling of safety of our residents, especially at the metro stations, whether it’s Florenc, Palmovka, Kobylisy, these are the places where the shoe pushes. But here in Prague, in general, there is a problem in the communication and cooperation of the capital city with the city districts, in In the last four years, we have rarely been able to find common ground.”
In this regard, the question arises as to how this situation is complicated by the current disagreements about the composition of the council at the municipality?
“It’s a complication, today you don’t know who to communicate with there. There is an old serving council, three of its members are no longer even members of the council and they probably won’t want to get involved in any major issues. We don’t know who is supposed to be there, there is no one to discuss with those things and time really do fly. I’m hoping to get it done by this February.”
Such a personal question, the Lilith statue by David Černý at the Invalidovna aroused a lot of emotions, what do you think of it? Do you like it?
“I’m not an expert in architecture, but I can say that from my layman’s point of view I quite like it, I think it’s an interesting undertaking.”
And at the end, one curious question, are you aware of any funny interesting facts about Prague 8 that not many people know about?
“One of the things that is so interesting here is that the very first Christmas tree in the territory of Bohemia, as we know it today, was presented to people in 1812 right here in Libni. The head of the Tyl Theater brought it here to introduce himself to his to the Christmas guests. But I remember one more, and that is that sometime more than a hundred years ago, the local football club FK Meteor Libeň beat Barcelona about 3:1 at their home in a match.”