Residents to decide fate of city authorities. Expert questions sense of referendum

• This coming Sunday, May 11, 2025, a referendum will be held on the recall of the mayor of Zabrze, Agnieszka Rupniewska, and the Zabrze City Council. Voting will last from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• According to Andrzej Porawski, one year is definitely too short to assess the actions of the new authorities. - The year it took them to save the city from financial collapse with the huge debt left by their predecessors, a deep current deficit and an unrealistic budget for 2024 - he said.
• The director cited a number of data indicating the city's very difficult situation in recent years, for which, according to him, the authorities of the previous term are 100 percent responsible. - The negative opinion of the RIO on the implementation of the budget in 2023 did not resound in the election campaign in the spring of 2024, because it was dated April 29 - he announced.

The referendum is the responsibility of a group of residents, represented by Krzysztof Korgiel. A few weeks ago - when the collection of signatures for the referendum application was still ongoing - he emphasized in an interview with "Dziennik Zachodni" that he decided to act because he did not like the current politics in the city.

- The city has come to a standstill. Even entrepreneurs are leaving because of the rent increases. Residents are dissatisfied with the mayor's behavior and her "arrogance" - said Krzysztof Korgiel from the RESET Referendum Committee in Zabrze .

Supporters of Agnieszka Rupniewska's dismissal argued that many residents have problems meeting with the mayor and talking about problems; other accusations include the process of selling the Górnik Zabrze club, lack of investment, and increases in local taxes and fees.

They got their way - the referendum will take place next Sunday, May 11, 2025.

Andrzej Porawski, the director of the Union of Polish Cities Office, decided to address the matter, although he noted that as a non-resident of the city, he did not intend to speak out on the referendum question, because it was a matter for the residents of Zabrze. However, he stated that as a systematic - for 35 years - observer of the life of Polish cities, he had to question the sense of this referendum.

- It is to decide the fate of the people entrusted with responsibility for a city in serious crisis, just a year after taking over the reins of the city government. A year that it took them to save the city from financial collapse with the huge debt left by their predecessors, a deep current deficit and an unrealistic budget for 2024. Unless, behind the backs of the initiators, there are predecessors who are unable to come to terms with a well-deserved election defeat, which is visible in their public and Facebook statements - he commented.

He pointed out that the city's very difficult situation and its consequences, which the people of Zabrze are now suffering, are 100 percent their "credit", hence the well-deserved verdict of the voters a year ago.

He cited several facts, among others, in connection with the city's finances.

- The litmus paper that best shows the state of finances are the annual opinions of the Regional Chamber of Audit. They are publicly available, so you can refer to them at any time - indicated the director. - The RIO's assessment in 2022 and 2023 already indicated the dangers related to the growing debt and lack of balance in the operational part of the budget. The opinions were "positive with comments" or "reservations", but the content of these comments was completely unconcerned by the previous team, preparing for the next elections - states Porawski.

As a result, the RIO opinion on the implementation of the budget in 2023 was already negative , which, however, did not resound in the election campaign in the spring of 2024, because the opinion was dated April 29 and became the subject of the deliberations of the new city council. Andrzej Porawski pointed out that a negative RIO opinion on the implementation of the budget is rare, because in the whole country in 2024 only 35 of them were issued for almost 3,000 local governments .

The Director also drew attention to the analyses conducted systematically by experts from the ZMP Office regarding the situation in other cities.

- Comparisons with other cities with county rights in the Silesian Voivodeship are particularly telling. This concerns comparable indicators, i.e. those calculated per capita or expressed as a percentage. In the budget execution for 2023, the amount of the net operating surplus was negative - the deficit amounted to minus PLN 523 per person ! The operating gap reached 8% of current expenditure and was the largest in Silesia," he noted.