Closing of the 250th Jinju City Council Extraordinary Session

Public Hearing on Resident-Initiated Ordinance for City Bus Semi-Public Operation System
Live Broadcast, 43 Proposals Discussed Over 9 Days

The Jinju City Council in Gyeongnam held the 2nd plenary session of the 250th extraordinary meeting, concluding a 9-day legislative schedule by handling various agenda items, including the review of the 2nd supplementary budget for 2023 and reporting on the results of administrative audit corrective actions.

During this extraordinary meeting, on the 5th, the Urban Environment Committee held a public hearing on the nationwide first resident-initiated ordinance, the "Ordinance on the Operation of the Jinju City Semi-Public Bus System," attracting significant attention from the local community. The public hearing was also broadcast live on YouTube and local broadcasting channels.

Presided over by Kang Jin-cheol, Chair of the Urban Environment Committee, the public hearing was conducted in the format of a standing committee meeting where responses were heard from the speakers. Representatives and experts from the ordinance proponents, as well as opponents including Jinju City officials and former Jinju City Council member Lee Hyun-wook, who previously chaired the Urban Environment Committee, expressed opposing views on the ordinance and answered questions from the committee members.

The 250th Jinju City Council 2nd Extraordinary Session.

During the Q&A session, Committee Members Shin Hyun-guk and Park Jong-gyu pointed out that after the implementation of the semi-public system in other local governments, financial burdens increased significantly, raising concerns about tax waste due to inefficient management, and asked if there were any exemplary cases without such issues. Committee Member Oh Kyung-hoon noted that both sides seemed unable to find common ground and questioned whether service evaluation, settlement, and audit services could be conducted smoothly.

Committee Members Kang Myo-young and Lee Kyu-seop addressed the issue of labor costs. Committee Member Kang requested a response from Jinju City regarding the proponents' claim that subsidies were not properly allocated to labor costs by the companies, and Council Member Lee asked whether financial expenditures might explode due to increases in labor costs and other expenses.

In response, Jinju City stated that the wage gap between companies was merely due to differences in personnel management methods and working conditions between the two companies, and Professor Yoon Young-shin, an emeritus professor of Business Administration at Pukyong National University and a proponent of the ordinance, replied that demands for wage increases were natural considering the city’s scale.

Committee Member Seo Jeong-in pointed out that the current system lacks specific legal grounds in the ordinance and said, "Even if Jinju City insists on implementing the total amount standard transportation cost system, an ordinance to establish institutional grounds is necessary." He added, "I believe the era of public bus systems is not far off. Instead of blindly pushing the semi-public system, efforts should be made to institutionalize and improve the current system."

The ordinance was initially submitted during the 8th Jinju City Council in February 2022 but was deferred twice around the nationwide local elections due to the need for thorough review. The fate of this resident-initiated ordinance is expected to be decided by March next year.

Meanwhile, among the total 43 agenda items, a significant number were council member-initiated ordinances. These include the "Ordinance on Supporting Cultural and Artistic Activities for Persons with Disabilities in Jinju" (Council Member Kang Myo-young), "Ordinance on Supporting the Development of Masters and Experts in Culture, Arts, Crafts, and Sports in Jinju" (Council Member Lee Kyu-seop), "Ordinance on the Promotion of Private Museums and Art Galleries in Jinju" (Council Member Jeon Jong-hyun and six others), "Ordinance on the Collection and Disposal Support for Agricultural Waste and Pesticides in Jinju" (Council Member Choi Min-guk and ten others), "Ordinance on Supporting Women Entrepreneurs in Jinju" (Council Member Park Mi-kyung), "Ordinance on Supporting Reclusive Individuals in Jinju" (Council Member Park Jae-sik), "Ordinance on the Selection and Support of Masters in Jinju" (Council Member Yoon Sung-kwan and fourteen others), "Ordinance to Promote Children's Right to Play in Jinju" (Council Member Kim Hyung-seok and eighteen others), and "Ordinance on the Establishment and Operation of Family Centers in Jinju" (Council Member Choi Ji-won and twenty others). These 12 ordinances represent the largest number in a single session.

The "Ordinance on the Establishment and Operation of the Jinju Facilities Management Corporation," which was deferred in the previous 249th extraordinary meeting, was reintroduced in this session and amended and approved to align the implementation date with the newly proposed personnel hearing ordinance.

The 2nd supplementary budget for 2023 was passed as originally proposed, except for a 70 million KRW reduction in the boiler replacement cost for the Korea Silk Industry Innovation Center under the jurisdiction of the Corporate and Trade Division, which was cut by the Economic Welfare Committee. The Jinju City budget increased by 136.1 billion KRW, rising 6.14% from the previously approved amount to a total of 2.3517 trillion KRW.

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