Filenews 6 July 2024
The government and Parliament, in their wisdom, as it is commonly said, decided to create 93 deputy mayoral positions at a cost to the taxpayer of €2.3 million annually, without assigning them tasks.
In the event that any mayor either because he fears competition (e.g. future contest of the mayoralty by the deputy mayor) or because the two of them do not get along, or because he is centralized, or for any other reason, is entitled not to delegate anything to the deputy mayor. In this case, no matter how far-fetched it may be, the deputy mayor may not do anything and collect (depending on the population of each municipality, between €717-€2,987 per month).
It is worth noting that under the previous regime in force in Local Government, the deputy mayors were limited to 30. That is, there was one deputy mayor in each town hall, compared to a total of 93 today. To illustrate the size of the shot attempted, it is noted that the Municipality of Polis Chrysochous has 14 deputy mayors while the Municipalities of West and East Limassol have nine.
But what does the legislation say about the powers of mayors and deputy mayors?
It provides, therefore, that each mayor has the power to delegate to the deputy mayors, as he sees fit, as many powers as he wishes, so that they can handle their own affairs separately within their municipal district. It should be noted, however, that all powers delegated to deputy mayors can be removed by the mayor at any time.
According to the legislation, the following applies to the powers in the Municipalities:
> The mayor exercises the executive power of the municipality and, without affecting that power, may act through the municipal office and the municipal bodies empowered to do so.
> He represents the Municipality in all its official relations and before the courts and any Authority of the Republic and signs the contracts in the name of the Municipality together with two (2) councillors authorized for this purpose by the Council.
> He chairs the meetings of the (municipal) council, the Management Committee or the committees of which he is a member or attends.
> He heads all services of the municipality, which he guides, directs, directs and controls.
> Signs or authorizes any employee of the municipality to sign any license granted under the law or any municipal regulation issued under the Law, and acts as a Marriage Officer under the provisions of the Marriage Law.
> It shall implement the decisions of the Board.
> It shall draw up the agenda for meetings of the Board, convene such meetings and communicate the relevant documents to the Director.
> It shall exercise any other authority or authority conferred on it by this Law or any other Law or any municipal regulation issued pursuant to the provisions of this Law.
In case of absence or impediment of the mayor, he is replaced by the deputy mayor of the largest municipal district of the municipality in terms of number of voters and, in case of absence or impediment of both, he is replaced by the deputy mayor of the second largest municipal district of the municipality in terms of voters.
The mayor is assisted in the performance of his duties by the deputy mayors of each municipal district of the municipality, who also chair the municipal committee of the district from which each was elected.
The role of deputy mayors in law
The deputy mayors, without prejudice to the powers of the mayor, who heads the services of the municipality, exercise the territorial powers delegated to them by decision of the mayor, in relation to the municipal district in which they were elected, which may include:
(a) The operation of municipal services established in their municipal district.
(b) The monitoring of the progress of projects and works carried out in their municipal district.
(c) Ensuring the good condition and operation of municipal equipment located in their municipal district.
(d) The signature, with the authorization of the mayor, of certificates, certificates and other administrative documents issued by the municipal services operating in their municipal district.
(e) The cooperation with the councillors of the relevant municipal district for the resolution of local problems, within the framework of the committee of their municipal district.
(f) The exercise of any other authority that may be delegated to them by decision of the mayor.
(g) Participation in the Management Committee.
(h) The representation of the municipality at the behest of the mayor.
(i) The participation in the meetings of all committees of the municipality, when issues of the relevant municipal district are discussed.
As "F" wrote a few days ago and as the Minister of the Interior mentioned on July 1 (the first day of implementation of the reform), the number of deputy mayors is one of the issues that will concern the ministry and the Parliament, obviously with the intention of reducing their number or their salaries.
