Márta V. Naszályi divided the initial difficulties they faced into three large groups, one of these categories being deficiencies related to the transparent operation of the municipality. “Very simple things that we did during the four and a half years should be part of the basic normality, and it didn’t work after 21 years of Fidesz city management.” For example, the district did not have a website where the board proposals were available.
He called the housing and energy crisis the other major group of problems, with the deterioration of the housing stock in the district and the related emigration. “There is a great demand, it is impossible to find an affordable rental apartment in Budapest, and there is a huge supply, 15-20 percent of the housing stock in the district is empty. We brought these two together with the municipal housing agency,” said Márta V. Naszályi, adding that a building renovation and energy efficiency program was also launched.
What is not visible from the outside: we inherited this municipality in such a way that there was simply no inventory of assets. The municipality did not know what properties it owned
– underlined Márta V. Naszályi, who also touched on the fact that “for example, the employees of our parking companies showered in a moldy shower, the women’s changing room was represented by a torn curtain in the corner of the men’s changing room”. He named green city development and the creation of 15-minute city services as the third major problem group.
“Takes, suffocates, tramples, humiliates”
Gergely Karácsony sees that they know exactly how difficult the past five years have been, but
human memory is infinitely short. Let’s think about what the municipalities had to survive. In itself, the fact that we are, that we exist, that the city works, is a political achievement.
The mayor explained that the government has encountered real problems in recent years – for example, the coronavirus epidemic, the energy crisis and economic problems – the municipalities did not want to compete with the government, but they saw “amazing blunders” by the government in crisis situations, so practically a rivalry developed, to which the narrowing of powers and resources was the answer.
Gergely Karácsony pointed out: for example, the epidemic or the drop in energy prices did not stem from “evil or a political decision”, the world we live in is creaking. “But when we’re fighting the elements, we’re handing out masks, testing, and providing utility subsidies, while almost every day a government decree comes that takes away, suffocates, tramples, humiliates, and then we also have to put up with government propaganda.”
According to Gergely Karácsony, the direct financial impact of the epidemic situation, the energy crisis and government cuts took HUF 358 billion from the capital city government, the greater part of the amount disappeared from the coffers due to government decisions.
Among other things, the city manager is proud of the fact that Euro 1 diesel buses no longer ply the streets of Budapest, all buses have low floors, and there is also a decent public bicycle system. But he believes that these should have been implemented a long time ago, and now they are at the zero kilometer mark. “Budapest fell asleep for 15 years, we are trying to move the city into the 21st century, which is full of conflicts, in a forced march, slightly testing the threshold of tolerance of the people of Budapest.” Among other things, the mayor drew attention to the fact that in a few decades the average temperature in Budapest will be the same as in Skopje, we will be living in a completely different city.
“Manchester carpenters come here to be sick”
Csaba Horváth spoke about how the capital owed a lot to Zugló, the district was neglected for decades, many things had to be made up. The district manager believed that a good mayor is basically like a good janitor. It just has a larger area than a condominium, but you still have to notice problems and find solutions to them.
Community is what makes a city a truly great place. It is not the subways and the tram network that make a city a really good place, but the people who live in it. They must develop a quality of cooperation that makes the city a better place
– emphasized the mayor of Zugló.
According to Péter Niedermüller, they are sure of the first two if the question is which district had the heaviest legacy after the previous administration. “There was no living person who could tell how many municipally owned apartments there are in the district,” the mayor of Erzsébetváros gave an example, adding: they didn’t even know how many of these apartments were habitable. They then found out that there were nearly six hundred properties that had been uninhabitable for decades.
Péter Niedermüller sees that the basic position of the previous management was that they should do nothing, because then there would be no scandal. Therefore, “there was no regulation of the so-called party district either.”
We started in two directions, on the one hand, there were many problems that had to be solved, but we also openly accepted that an opposition local government must play politics and fulfill political functions, because it is only possible to show what governance alternatives there are locally. If we politicize locally as we see fit, we can say that this is what we can offer at the national level as well
Péter Niedermüller pointed out, revealing that they consciously took on this political role, and it had an effect. “Now, when the campaign started, the local Fidesz organization published a leaflet that said that Péter Niedermüller is destroying Erzsébetváros with his delusions brought home from Brussels.” The mayor revealed that he considers what he learned there to be an inclusive, open and solidary community really important.
Péter Niedermüller emphasized that they had and still have ambitious goals, they want to redefine the district, “to get rid of the bad image that carpenters from Manchester come here to be sick”.
(Cover image: Tamás Kaszás / Index)
Tags: Index Homeland Manchester carpenters sick central part capital fundamentally change
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