Two meetings of the municipal council in Mörbylånga cost about SEK 200,000. This is money that could be saved, according to the municipal board, which proposed that the current eight meetings be reduced to six per year.
If the proposal goes through, it will be the second time in two years that the number of meetings in Mörbylånga City Council has been reduced. Something that worries Carina Adolfsson Elgestam (S):
"The elected representatives who sit on the municipal council must have the opportunity to have broad knowledge when making decisions, and then you need to have regular meetings," she says.
But this is a proposal, not a decision. Why are you leaving your post anyway?
"It's a problem to meet and discuss this. When this problem exists internally in our party, it is better that I make my seat available to others who find it easier to talk.
More expensive than in other municipalities
SVT has tried to reach Adolfsson Elgestam's party colleague, the chairman of the municipal executive board Matilda Wärenfalk (S), who has not returned during the day. Instead, the 1st vice chairman of the municipal executive board, Anna Kajsa Arnesson (C) responds
"We have a new way of calculating our costs where we compare ourselves with similar municipalities and then see that we have unusually high costs for political acquisition," she says.
Council truancy a bigger problem
However, she stresses that it is only a proposal – which will be debated. At the same time, she believes that there is a larger democracy problem, namely attendance at council meetings.
– In 2023, we have eight scheduled meetings and we already knew that in November 2022. Despite this, we had ten members missing from yesterday's council. This will be a good opportunity for everyone who has a mission to think about, and if this is how we want it.