Robert Negoiță, about the reductions in the administration: “Spouses meet at home. One works for a small salary and pays the high salary to the one who stays”
Robert Negoita, Photo: Inquam Photos – Sabin Cirstoveanu
The mayor of sector 3, Robert Negoiță (PSD), said to Digi24 that substantial personnel reductions can be made in the local administration, but the reductions should be made on a case-by-case basis, so that it does not appear that “we are doing brain surgery with a chainsaw”. On the other hand, Negoiță said that a staff reduction in the central administration which is “much too fat” is also mandatory.
Robert Negoiță declared himself a supporter of substantial staff reductions in town halls, giving the example of sector 3, where the town hall has the right to 855 employees, but only 240 people work in its apparatus.
However, the mayor says that a minimum percentage should not be set, for all municipalities, in terms of redundancies. “If someone comes and kicks ass and we say we cut by half, we will have worse services with higher costs”, said Negoiță referring to the fact that many town halls will have to outsource certain services they provide now, which implies additional costs and the possibility that these services will not be of the desired quality.
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“Let's not do brain surgery with a chainsaw”
Negoiță admitted that some mayors work with too many people because they either did not digitize the administration sufficiently, or did not correctly assess the need for people. Even if a municipality is more advanced from the point of view of digitalization, the relationship with other institutions still suffers, if they work “like in the Middle Ages”.
“In general, it's not just that we're paying high wages, it's not just that we're distorting the market. Husbands and wives meet at home. One is working hard for a low salary and who pays the high salary to the one who stays,” said the mayor of District 3, adding that most problems for the common citizen are caused by officials who “are not well-charged enough”.
Invited to comment on the disputes in the coalition between Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan and the PSD regarding the reductions in administrative expenses, provided for in GEO 52, Robert Negoiță said: “Both have rights. 100% must be reduced, Mr. Bolojan is right. But colleagues are also right when they say that it is not ok to cut corners (…) The solution is a case-by-case analysis. A matter that shows how as much as a norm that can be applied and make it look like we're not doing brain surgery with a chainsaw.”
Also, Negoiță said that, together with the reductions in the local administration, a staff reduction in the central administration is also mandatory. He mentioned that some of the employees from the sector he runs have gone to the central administration
“We know a lot of people who have gone to ministries where they stay for nothing all year. We also see the level of competence there, not a word of competence. When you come and say that the local administration apparatus is fat, that is the reality, but the central administration is far too fat”, said Robertă Negoiță saying that at least 30% of the number of employees in the central administration can be made redundant.
He also explained how the oversizing of the public administration was reached: “Over time, they made some laws, with unions, with parliamentarians so that they could not fire people. The PNL could not fire people from the PSD, but they also brought in their own people. After that, when the PSD returned, they did the same.”
