Jelgava Municipality Head on Possible Split of Former Ozolnieki Municipality: Residents' Will Must Be Respected
The residents' group “Mēs Ozolnieku novadam” has called a meeting on 21 October about restoring the former Ozolnieki municipality. Ingus Zālītis, chairman of the Jelgava municipality council, says the local government neither initiates nor rejects the idea.
Residents of the Salgale, Ozolnieki and Cena parishes are invited to a meeting this evening, 21 October, by the residents' group “Mēs Ozolnieku novadam” (“We for Ozolnieki Municipality”). The gathering will take place at “Branku brančotava” at 7 p.m. and is meant to decide on the future of the former Ozolnieki municipality. The three parishes are now part of Jelgava municipality, and the group, which is dissatisfied with the work of the Jelgava municipal council, names the restoration of Ozolnieki municipality as the meeting's goal.
Ingus Zālītis, chairman of the Jelgava municipal council, commented on the upcoming meeting by saying the local government neither initiates nor rejects such activity. In his view, residents themselves must be united in their civic will.
The council chairman's position
Zālītis said the council would respect residents' wish to push for changes to the law if a feeling has gradually taken hold that the shared management of a larger municipality has not proved justified, that development efforts are not visible in the parishes, and that there is no sense of a democratic and representative process in governing the territory.
He recalled that before the Saeima (Latvian parliament) elections, representatives of the United List, visiting Jelgava municipality, said publicly that it was worth reopening the Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas, reviewing municipal borders and assessing residents' satisfaction after the reform. Zālītis believes this is now the right time for the governing political majority to take up such a wish from residents.
Current governance
The chairman said the present council is trying to build the municipality's governance in a balanced and unified way, and that in projects, investments, operational work and spending it works to ensure a common pace of development in all parishes. According to him, construction work and project implementation are currently very intensive.
However, if residents feel that the merger has brought no benefit to the community, the council will respect that view. Zālītis added that a referendum or a hearing of the public's voice on joining a city, a municipality, or remaining an independent unit should have taken place before the reform.
