Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) yesterday vowed to persuade city councilors who are opposed to a planned merger of Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County to support the city government’s proposal that the city council reconsider the plan.
Chen told reporters that the city government would hold two public hearings next week in a bid to help councilors and the public gain a better understanding of the merger plan.
She said the city government would immediately submit a proposal to the council to have the council reconsider its decision to reject the plan.
The city council voted against the merger plan on Monday even though the city government had been garnering support from councilors across party lines.
Twenty of the 42 councilors present during the vote had supported the plan. The councilors who voted against the plan included members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party, as well as independent councilors.
The Kaohsiung County Council approved the county’s merger plan last week and had been awaiting the city council’s approval of the city government’s plan.
If Kaohsiung City and County chose to complete the merger by next year, they would have to submit a plan to the Ministry of the Interior and the Executive Yuan for review by the end of this month.
Meanwhile, Chen said she was very disappointed that no progress had been made in the central government’s promise to relocate the Public Television Service to Kaohsiung.
“So far I have only heard of the plan and have not seen any development,” she said.
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