The request of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality officials will be discussed in the council

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay informed about the agenda items of the city during the July council meeting. An amendment proposal regarding the social balance compensation, which has been a matter of public concern for a long time and demanded above the municipal authority limit, was submitted to the council by the presidency. Mayor Tugay said, ‘Laws set a limit. If we are to make such a decision, I would like to do it with the approval of our council. Let’s make this decision together.’

The first session of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality July council meeting was held under the chairmanship of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay. Among the additional proposals coming from the presidency, the article regarding the legal limit authority for social balance compensation of civil servants working at Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, affiliated with All Bel-Sen, was brought to the agenda. The presidency presented the article requiring a ‘council decision’ for the social balance compensation above the legal limit.

‘If we are to make such a decision, I would like to do it with the approval of our council’
Addressing the criticisms of the AK Party and MHP groups regarding the article, Mayor Tugay said, ‘I mentioned that there should be a legal basis for Social Balance Compensation. When something is discussed about making a payment above the legal limit, a statement was made like ‘AK Party exceeded the legal limit in Sancaktepe.’ I find it difficult to understand this issue. Someone needs to authorize me on this matter. I am consulting our council. The authority previously granted was not sufficient to exceed the legal limit. Laws set a limit. You previously granted authority at the legal limit. If we are to make such a decision now, I would like to do it with the approval of our council. If you are going to give a negative opinion, it will be discussed in the Legal Commission, Planning, and Budget Commission. If you are not going to give, we will accept it and move on. What are we discussing?’ he said.

‘It’s not done by blaming the mayor’
Mayor Tugay continued his speech as follows: ‘There is a legal limit in place, and you say this legal limit cannot be exceeded. On the other hand, you promise bonuses, other payments without a basis. There is no such thing. The legal limit is the legal limit. There are no bonuses or other types of payments in the law. With the authority you granted us on May 17, we could not sign a collective bargaining agreement in accordance with that law. I told our colleagues that there is a limit in our law, we cannot exceed it. But they did not accept this. There was something previously given. But there is a serious criticism from the Court of Accounts on the matter, and there is also a finding that an investigation will be opened. Now I am telling the council; these colleagues are our employees. You, like me, are council members responsible for the political responsibility of this municipality. Let’s make this decision together, let’s find the solution together. Today we are not making a decision, we are referring it to the commissions. Everyone who is concerned should go, discuss, express their views. I believe that the decision of our council will be our reference. After all, such matters are related to the law. When you go the legal route, at least we can say ‘Look, our AK Party and MHP council members in our council have expressed a positive opinion about exceeding the legal limit. Therefore, you should consider this as a kind of right.’ I want your signature under this authority. I want the decision to come from the commissions unanimously. Everyone should share this responsibility’ he said.

After the opinions, the article regarding the social balance compensation was referred unanimously to the Legal Commission and Planning and Budget Commission.

‘Izmir is half as cheap as Istanbul in 0-4 cubic meters of water’
During the discussions in the council meeting, a proposal regarding the pricing of water consumption in households in Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir by the AK Party group was brought to the agenda. Explaining the miscalculations in the proposal and public calculations, Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay stated, ‘A citizen who consumes 15 cubic meters pays a fee of 16 lira 57 kurus for 0-4 cubic meters of water. This amount is half as cheap as in Ankara and Istanbul. According to what you wrote, this amount is 32 lira in Istanbul, 24 lira in Ankara, and 16 lira 57 kurus in Izmir. Please do these calculations correctly. Regardless of the amount consumed, we have a 25% discount applied to the first 0-4 cubic meters, and no additional increase has been made on this discount.’

Protocol with MMO for the inspection of escalators
During the council meeting, a proposal regarding the monthly and annual inspections of elevators, escalators, cable cars, and similar equipment open to the public owned by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and its companies with the Chamber of Mechanical Engineers Izmir Branch affiliated with TMMOB was also brought to the agenda. Speaking about the agenda item, Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay, recalling the escalator accident in Ucyol, said, ‘We were very sorry. I immediately requested a detailed examination from my colleagues. Later, we called the Chamber of Mechanical Engineers and asked them to investigate the incident. There are points that disturb us as well. We will make radical decisions about this. We do not want anyone responsible to serve the municipality anymore. Rest assured that we will do what is necessary. Having the Chamber of Mechanical Engineers as the inspector is something we have pre-approved. I think it should be voted on directly.’ After Mayor Tugay’s statement, the proposal was directly voted on and accepted unanimously.

Four-fold audit mechanism for metropolitan companies
Mayor Tugay also informed the council about the audit mechanism established for the companies owned by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, saying, ‘We have established a Companies Coordination Board. It consists of four people. One is an internal auditor, one is a lawyer, one is a financial advisor, and one is an experienced executive in business. These colleagues inspect all companies separately. Something different will happen this term. We are trying to establish this.’