Haenam County Council Wins Excellence Award at Local Council Best Practices Competition

Published 01 Nov.2021 17:36(KST)

Haenam County Council won the Excellence Award at the 2021 Local Council Best Practice Competition. ⓒ Asia Economy

[Haenam＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] Selected as the Best Ordinance Nationwide That Changed Our Lives in 30 Years of Local Councils, ‘The Only One Among County-Level Councils’

The Haenam County Council in Jeonnam (Chairman Kim Byung-deok) received an excellence award at the ‘2021 Local Council Best Practices Competition’ held on the 29th of last month, commemorating the 30th anniversary of local councils under the theme ‘30 Years of Local Councils, Ordinances and Legislative Activities That Changed Our Lives,’ hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

According to the county council on the 1st, the event held at the Ulsan Exhibition & Convention Center on the occasion of the 9th Local Autonomy Day featured 14 councils nationwide (11 metropolitan councils, 1 city council, 1 district council, and 1 county council) advancing to the finals, with Haenam County Council being the only one at the county level.

This competition was the ‘2021 Local Council Best Practices Competition’ conducted over four months from July to October, targeting 244 metropolitan and basic local councils nationwide.

In the first round of judging, a joint panel of judges evaluated five areas including necessity, democracy, and creativity, selecting 30 cases nationwide. In the second round, an online public perception survey conducted through Gwanghwamun Ilbeonga and expert evaluations were combined to select 14 outstanding cases for the finals.

The third and final round was confirmed through strict evaluations by a public evaluation group and expert judges along with an on-site presentation by Councilor Lee Sung-ok.

In this evaluation, Haenam County Council received high praise for creating a virtuous cycle in the local economy by uniting the council, the executive branch, and residents to become the first in the nation to pay farmers’ allowances in local gift certificates, thereby enabling coexistence with small business owners and neighborhood markets.

It was especially noteworthy as the evaluation covered all local council ordinances and legislative activities over the 30 years since the reestablishment of local councils in 1991.

Haenam County Council, the first to receive an institutional commendation in the 30-year history of local councils, stated, “The farmers’ allowance ordinance, created together with farmers and all residents of the county, has spread nationwide and has become a historic ordinance that institutionally recognizes the public value contributed by agriculture and rural areas,” dedicating all the glory of the award to the 70,000 residents of Haenam County.

Chairman Kim Byung-deok said, “I deeply thank my fellow council members who united with one heart and mind to gather wisdom for the era’s mission for agriculture and rural areas, as well as Mayor Myung Hyun-kwan and related officials who prepared the institutional framework,” adding, “Haenam County, a representative agricultural county of Korea, will continue to research and gather wisdom together with residents so that the public value of agriculture spreads further and the farmers’ allowance can be legislated as a core national policy.”