Kutaisi Still Without Mayor

Shorena Kakabadze, Kutaisi

Kutaisi is still without Mayor. On February 12, chairman of the city council issued decree # 152 and resigned Kutaisi interim mayor. 

“Shota Murgulia was not implementing his responsibilities properly; he did not cooperate with the city council; had favorite council members and communicated only with them. In addition to that, he had unclear relationships with the competition commission for the employees of the local self-government. He hindered personnel selection process. Namely, different service units did not have leaders that had negative impact on the city’s life. All these problems were caused by incorrect attitude of Shota Murgulia to the issues and his faulty activities,” head of city council Tamaz Margvelashvili said. 

Murgulia occupied the position on November 21, 2013. Before that, he was deputy minister of regional development and infrastructure and was sent to Kutaisi to work on infrastructural development of the city.

“I am ready to work for the welfare of Kutaisi. I usually supported this city, even when I was deputy minister. I will assist Kutaisi from my new position as a interim mayor,” Murgulia met media representatives with these words.

Soon, he implemented personnel changes in the local self-government and fired vice-mayors, part of heads of service units. Based on Shota Murgulia’s decision results of HR competition at the Kutaisi City Hall were annulled. Before that, he rebuked the commission for lacking qualified staff in it and planned to invite experts of different fields to the commission.

Part of civil society agreed Murgulia’s decision; now they protest his resignation together with the new chairman of the competition commission at the Kutaisi City Hall and members of the city council. They plan to hold protest demonstrations in front of the City Hall and to nail the door of the council chairman’s working room. 

Shota Murgulia thinks the decree # 152 issued by the city council chairman on February 12 is illegal but he is not going to fight for the justice through judiciary because he believes the problem will be resolved within the city council in near future.