Jana Goyvaerts, a municipal councillor from the Ecolo-Groen party, slammed the City of Brussels on Wednesday for expanding aldermen’s offices and increasing their mobility budget.
Goyvaerts claimed that the number of staff in the aldermen’s offices had risen from 82 to 107, with each now receiving a mobility budget of €1,100. “This is incomprehensible,” she remarked.
“Brussels residents are facing significant budget cuts and reforms at the regional and federal levels,” the newly elected councillor said. “In such a situation, the city council is awarding itself extra pocket money to purchase expensive cars.”
“Aldermen, by definition, live within the municipality. How can they be so out of touch with the predicament of many Brussels residents?” she wondered.
According to Goyvaerts, the spending increase is even harder to accept given cutbacks at municipal services. “Due to budget cuts, there is a hiring freeze; for instance, staff in the public sanitation department who retire are not being replaced,” she pointed out.
Sanitation is a hot potato in the region. It was also a heated campaign issue in the City of Brussels during the recent election year.
“While Liberal budget Minister Gatz [Sven Gatz, Open Vld] is calling for budgetary caution at the regional level, Liberal aldermen in Brussels are spending taxpayers’ money on SUVs,” Goyvaerts charged. “The Brussels City administration is clearly oblivious to the budgetary iceberg Gatz highlighted.”
The Greens expect that Brussels will have to make significant budget cuts.
“We are very curious about how the city's administration plans to explain to staff of the Public Sanitation or Parks and Gardens services that there is no money to replace their colleagues, but there is money for company cars and extra staff for the aldermen’s offices,” Goyvaerts concluded.
