Suncheon City, Resident Pet Projects... The Reason for Non-Disclosure Should Not Be Budget to Support Council Members

City Council Members Should No Longer Interfere with Private Contracts in Eup, Myeon, and Dong
Planning and Budget Office to Cut Department Budgets Sharply and Secure City Council Members' Shares

[Suncheon=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Suncheon City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Heo Seok) has prepared a budget of 1.3782 trillion KRW for next year and submitted it to the Suncheon City Council (Chairman Heo Yoo-in) on the 19th.

Although the budget increased by 7% compared to this year, it is insufficient to push forward the budget for the prolonged COVID-19 situation and the projects that had been halted, so each department made every effort to secure the budget.

In this process, complaints and discord erupted, saying, "The departments enjoy the power to arbitrarily cut the budgets submitted by the divisions," and "Whose budget proposal is this for?"

A person A, who met with the department head to secure the budget, said, "I was told 'No' without even hearing an explanation or having a chance to speak," and added, "It's absurd that such a person takes care of the city council members' budgets."

What about the residents' urgent projects?

A budget proposal for residents' urgent projects amounting to 100 million KRW each was submitted to the city council for most of the eup, myeon, and dong districts as the city council members' share.

There are criticisms that the budget department cut the budgets of the divisions but took care of the city council members' budgets.

When a request for information disclosure about the details of the residents' urgent projects listed in the budget proposal was made, a city official refused.

The person in charge said, "Since the budget has not been finalized by passing through the council, we cannot disclose the information," and added, "Residents' urgent projects refer to small-scale projects under 20 million KRW carried out by eup, myeon, and dong."

Why are residents' urgent projects executed only with small amounts under 20 million KRW?

Because the amount for which eup, myeon, and dong can make private contracts is limited to 20 million KRW or less.

It has been reported that city and provincial council members are involved in contracts by saying, "This time, give it to ㅇㅇㅇ," claiming that they brought the projects carried out by eup, myeon, and dong.

Although this is corruption that must be eradicated, it seems that a food chain has become a custom where public officials take care of city and provincial council members, and council members receive sponsorship or help from businesspeople.

Analyzing their relationships, candidates running for city and provincial council elections conduct campaigns with local businesspeople in front, and once elected, they assist various projects and contracts through the influence of city and provincial council members.

In particular, since residents' urgent projects are all conducted through private contracts, there is a reasonable suspicion that backdoor deals related to vested interests occur, leading to criticism that these are projects taken care of for the council members.

There is now a growing argument that the long-standing malpractices must be cut off, and the end of this year, ahead of next year's local elections, is the optimal time for Suncheon City to take preventive measures against corruption through organizational restructuring.

The plan is to call facility-related public officials working in eup, myeon, and dong to the main office to fill the shortage of facility staff and efficiently manage budgets and other matters.

Nearby Goheung County, through organizational restructuring in 2017, called facility-related public officials who were working in eup and myeon to the main office's project departments.

They have eliminated private contracts conducted in eup and myeon and directly place orders through project departments within the county office, efficiently managing budgets and manpower.

As a result, the long-standing corruption involving county and provincial council members related to construction and other matters has disappeared, and political practices such as selecting candidates or dividing factions based on interests have also been greatly reduced.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.