Gori City Hall Will Hold Competition for Public Servants at the End of Month

Lado Bichashvili, Shida Kartli

Gori City Mayor Zurab Jirkvelishvili met representatives of nongovernmental organizations to discuss upcoming competition for public servants at local self-governmental agencies. The mayor offered one place in the jury to the civil sector. 

Representatives of civil society organizes rejected the offer and said the commission must be staffed with qualified professionals, who have competence in the activities of self-governmental agencies. Representatives of NGOs preferred to monitor the competition process. At the meeting the mayor said that he would nominate the candidate for the commission chairperson at the next session but on October 3 he nominated himself on the position that was opposed by the city council members. 

Regardless the amendments drafted for the Law on Public Service, which aims to postpone the competition terms till the end of the year, city mayor and commission chairman Zurab Jirkvelishvili note that the city hall will start competition process by the end of the month. 

Zurab Jirkvelishvili: “Soon the competition requirements will be developed and we will start process. The law regulates everything.”

Vice-mayors and heads of service units are appointed without competition because they are political positions. Chairman of the City Council Papuna Koberidze said the law shall allow a senior official to personally select his/her team and not through competition.

Papuna Koberidze: “When mayor comes into office, he must have his own team – like vice mayors and heads of service units. They must not be selected through competition. I think the new leader should have possibility to come to the office with his/her own team.”

Majority member in the city council Tamar Tedliashvili has different opinion about the issue, who said that it is not reasonable to directly appoint manager to the competition-selected public servants.

Tamar Tedliashvili, the council member: “The heads of service units should also take competition, because they will lead the divisions where competition-selected people will work; so, their skills and education shall be adequate to the knowledge and education of the subordinates. I think they have to meet more criteria.”

United National Movement was skeptical about the scheduled competition and their representatives clarify that Georgian Dream tries to legalize employment of its activists and relatives in the local self-governmental agencies.

Kakha Lobjanidze, member of the UNM: “We think they aim to employ their activists via competition. The senior officials must also take competitions because if they do not have relevant education, why should we demand the lower circle to have good education.”

As for the Gori district administration, unlike the City Hall, they will supposedly postpone the competition before the end of the year because the municipal board has not yet selected competition chairperson and has not determined competition criteria either.