Satisfaction with the Independence of Personnel Authority in Local Councils Falls Below 30%

Policy Support Officer System Satisfaction Falls Short of Majority, 75% of Metropolitan Council Members Demand Assistant System... Kim Yong-seok Earns Ph.D. in Public Administration from Kyung Hee University Based on 24 Years and 6 Terms of Legislative Activity

Former Seoul City Council member Kim Yong-seok, who served six terms as a local councilor, announced that he obtained a Ph.D. in Public Administration from Kyung Hee University based on 24 years of legislative experience.

The topic of his doctoral dissertation was "A Study on Enhancing the Role of Local Councils," with the subtitle "Focusing on the Independence of Personnel Authority in Local Councils and the Introduction of the Policy Support Officer System." The purpose of the study was to analyze the satisfaction levels of councilors and administrative staff regarding the independence of personnel authority, as well as the satisfaction of basic and metropolitan councilors with the policy support officer system, and to propose institutional improvement measures.

Kim explained the research background by stating that with the complete revision of the Local Autonomy Act after 32 years, the long-awaited independence of personnel authority and the policy support officer system for local councils were implemented on January 13, 2022. Therefore, after one and a half years, it is time to analyze the satisfaction levels of local councilors and administrative staff regarding these two systems.

To this end, a survey was conducted over one month from June 26 to July 25, 2023, targeting local councilors and administrative staff nationwide. A total of 1,084 responses were analyzed, including 438 local councilors and 646 administrative staff members.

The satisfaction rate of local councilors and administrative staff with the independence of personnel authority in local councils was less than 30%. The overall satisfaction rate was 29.8%, with administrative staff showing a lower satisfaction rate of 27.3% compared to 33.4% for councilors. Despite the realization of the long-standing wish of local councils, the low satisfaction is attributed to the fact that although personnel authority independence was legally established, the actual organizational authority remains with the head of the local government through enforcement ordinances.

Meanwhile, the satisfaction rate with the policy support officer system, introduced to support the legislative activities of local councilors, was 56.4%. A closer look reveals that basic councilors had a satisfaction rate of 59.6%, significantly higher than the 50.3% satisfaction rate of metropolitan councilors. This is interpreted as basic councilors experiencing higher satisfaction due to the newly established policy support officers who assist directly with legislative activities such as ordinance proposals, data requests, and press release preparation, especially given the previous absolute shortage of administrative staff. On the other hand, metropolitan councilors mostly had similar systems in place before the introduction of the policy support officer system, and despite having broader job scopes, workloads, and political activities than basic councilors, there is significant concern about the uniform introduction of policy support officers?who are local government employees?at a ratio of one officer per two councilors.

Regarding institutional improvement measures for the policy support officer system, which allowed multiple responses, basic councilors most frequently chose "securing one policy support officer per councilor," whereas a striking 74.8% of metropolitan councilors selected "hiring one special advisor per councilor" as an improvement measure, showing a clear difference. However, both basic and metropolitan councilors share significant concerns about the current system of policy support officers as local government employees at a ratio of one officer per two councilors, and jointly recognize the need for institutional improvements to provide support and advisory systems of at least one officer per councilor.

Former councilor Kim Yong-seok emphasized, "This study, based on empirical research through surveys of local councilors and administrative staff, points out the urgent need for legal and institutional supplementation regarding the current 'nominal independence' of personnel authority in local councils and the policy support officer system with one officer per two councilors as local government employees. For fundamental enhancement of the functions and roles of local councils, the enactment of the Local Council Act and constitutional amendments are necessary."

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