Gwangju City Councilor Park Mijeong Awarded 'Best Prize' at Governance Local Politics Awards

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Park Mijeong, member of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council (Democratic Party, Dong-gu 2), won the Grand Prize for Administrative Efficiency Enhancement at the ‘2022 Governance Local Politics Awards’ held on the 16th at the Seoul Women’s Plaza in Daebang-dong.

This is her second award following last year’s grand prize in the local council member category.

Councilor Park received the top prize for her case of saving budget and improving the system through the enactment and revision of the ‘Gwangju Metropolitan City City Bus Semi-Public Operation Ordinance.’

The main contents of the ordinance include ▲ the formation and operation of the Revenue Joint Management Committee (Article 5) ▲ members of the Bus Policy Deliberation Committee (Article 6) ▲ calculation of standard transportation costs (Article 9) ▲ accounting audit (Article 10) ▲ financial support (Article 11) ▲ management and service evaluation (Article 13) ▲ improper receipt of financial support funds (Article 16) ▲ exclusion from the city bus semi-public operation system (Article 17) ▲ administrative audit (Article 19), among others.

The Gwangju Metropolitan City City Bus Semi-Public Operation Ordinance was established through participation and cooperation among the private sector, government, and politics, starting with accurately identifying the actual conditions regarding the safety, convenience, and service quality of transportation, which were insufficient compared to the exponentially fluctuating budget.

In the subsequent revision, provisions were added concerning employment security, labor environment, and capacity building for transportation workers, strengthening accountability for managers, and attending the council administrative audit to take an oath before the audit.

Since 2006, Councilor Park has led the enactment of the ordinance by collecting opinions through five-minute speeches, municipal inquiries, task force activities with experts from various fields, and large-scale public debates with citizens to identify budget waste and actual conditions of the city bus semi-public operation system.

Even after implementation, she enhanced effectiveness by identifying legislative shortcomings through collecting opinions from various sectors and revising the ordinance accordingly.

Councilor Park stated, “Public transportation is above all about safety, publicness, and convenience, and I want to create a model for this in Gwangju through a social grand compromise among labor, management, citizens, and government.”

She added, “In the future, public transportation needs to transition to people-centered green transportation in line with the climate crisis era,” and said, “I will engage in legislative activities that can establish respect and consideration for various modes of transportation and public transportation as convenient and safe means of mobility that change and are felt in citizens’ daily lives through cooperation and communication.”

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