Municipality of Gödöllő
From 2019 to date
I won the office of Deputy Mayor in 2019, after winning a mandate in the municipal elections. At the inaugural meeting, the Council of Representatives may elect a deputy mayor from among its members to replace the mayor and assist him in his work. I had one of the honours of being voted for by the body, which made me the full-time deputy mayor of my home town.
In my day-to-day work, I perform many important tasks in the life of the municipality. I am involved in the governance and management of the municipality, helping the mayor to develop strategies and development plans. The local government carries out its statutory and voluntary duties and responsibilities, of which those delegated by the Mayor are carried out by the elected Deputy Mayor.
A city like Gödöllő has a number of mandatory and voluntary tasks. It has 33,500 inhabitants living in an area of about 60 km2. Almost 60% of the area is forest or green. The municipality is also a district centre, which means that tasks such as outpatient specialist care and regional family support services are also available.
The city of Gödöllő employs nearly 540 people in 13 different departments or affiliated companies. The municipal administration is involved in setting strategic objectives, which are implemented by the autonomous units along planning and implementation documents.
In accordance with the relevant legal provisions, Gödöllő also prepares an annual budget. The balance sheet total including cash accounts is close to HUF 13 billion. The revenue side, including the state top-up funding, is approximately EUR 7 billion per year, of which the state contribution is around EUR 2.7 billion. The rest is generated by the city in the form of taxes or economic results.
For me, the position of deputy mayor is not just an office, it is a vocation that I have pursued with passion and commitment. Initially, it was a challenge to learn about the social field or the health systems. With a lot of help from experienced colleagues, I learnt how the sub-systems of public administration work and the criteria by which they can be categorised. It is an ever-changing structure, so this knowledge has little relevance in a market environment, but the residents of the municipality have also experienced peace of mind and stable predictable leadership for the past 5 years.
My days are also characterised by the supervision of the functioning of institutions, be they educational, health or cultural, which can be imagined mainly in relation to feedback. I also regularly represent the mayor at various events, meetings and negotiations, and am actively involved in local community life. I consider it important to have direct contact with the population and I regularly participate in public forums to get to know and represent the interests of the residents.
The work of social workers is harder than you might imagine. A flower is just a token we can give to show our gratitude.
The Deputy Mayor’s responsibilities focus not only on solving municipal problems, but also on strengthening community cohesion. My goal over the past 5 years has been to bring social demand and competitive local government under one roof. The civil servant and the public employee are socialized on a different set of values than the competitively trained worker. It would be difficult to imagine the two together, but not impossible, as steps have been taken during my career. These included parking disc, the lock-and-key programme and the development of outpatient care in the health sector.
All in all, I feel that the job of deputy mayor has given me the opportunity to actively contribute to the development of the municipality and to improving the quality of life of its residents, which is the most important mission for me. Now the time has come for me to look for a new path for further development along personal preferences.
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Dr. Norbert Bajkó
