Administration of the City of Poznan
Poznan's local government's legislative and decision-making body is the City Council, which sets local by-laws, passes budgets and inspects their execution, decides on local taxes and charges on the grounds of existing legislature and adopts resolutions on property rights. The City Council and the Mayor are the elected bodies.
Local government elections are held every four years to elect the City Council and the Mayor of the City. Council members and the Mayor are elected in general, direct elections on the secret ballot and "one person-one vote" principle. The City Council consists of 37 councilors. The Chairman and three Vice-Chairmen direct the work of the City Council.
The Mayor of the City holds executive power, manages the Poznan City Hall, and directs the work of his deputies, the secretary and the treasurer, who are responsible for administrating specific municipal issues designated to them by the Mayor.
Representatives of the local government are:
- Chairman of the Poznan City Council: Grzegorz Ganowicz
- Deputy-Chairmen of the Poznan City Council: Przemysław Alexandrowicz, Dominika Urszula Król, Agnieszka Lewandowska
- The Mayor of the City of Poznan: Jacek Jaśkowiak
- Deputy Mayors of Poznań: Mariusz Wiśniewski, Jędrzej Solarski, Bartosz Guss
- Secretary of the City of Poznan: Stanisław Tamm
- Treasurer of the City of Poznan: Barbara Sajnaj
The City of Poznan has the status of a gmina (commune) and a powiat (district). Poznan being a city with the status of a district holds the authority of both a district and a commune, so the mayor of the City also acts as a Starosta (district head). The City performs the tasks of a commune and a district, and tasks assigned within the scope of governmental administration.
The Act on Commune self-government regards the following issues as the fundamental tasks of the commune:
- spatial order, land management and environmental protection,
- roads, streets, bridges and squares belonging to the commune and road traffic organization,
- water supply systems and water supply, wastewater collecting system, municipal wastewater discharge and treatment, keeping order and cleanliness, as well as sanitary facilities, landfills and municipal waste utilization, electricity, heat and gas supply,
- local public transport,
- health care,
- welfare, including, care centres and institutions,
- housing construction in communes,
- education, including elementary schools, kindergartens and other educational and instructive institutions,
- culture, including libraries in communes and other culture-propagating centres,
- physical culture, including recreational areas and sports facilities,
- outdoor markets and indoor market places,
- green areas and tree-planting in communes,
- cemeteries in communes,
- public order and fire protection,
- maintenance of public utility facilities and equipment and administrative facilities in communes,
- provision of social, medical and legal care for pregnant women
The catalogue of tasks, which has a very general nature, specifies the main areas of activities of the commune. Detailed competencies in particular areas are laid down in sector acts.
Similarly to communes, the scope of activities of the district self-government units is laid down in the Act on District self- government. The tasks encompass the following areas:
- public education,
- health promotion and care,
- welfare,
- pro-family policy,
- support for the disabled,
- transport and public roads,
- culture and culture heritage protection,
- physical culture and tourism,
- land survey, cartography and cadastre,
- real estate management,
- spatial development and construction supervision,
- water management,
- environmental protection,
- agriculture, forestry and inland fishery,
- public order and safety of citizens,
- fire protection, flood protection and prevention of other extraordinary threats to human life and health and the environment,
- counteracting unemployment and activation of the local labour market,
- consumer right protection,
- maintenance of district public utility facilities and equipment and administration facilities,
- defense,
- promotion of the district,
- co-operation with NGOs.