The Greater Tainan Political Overseer Alliance yesterday demanded that Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) apologize for “smearing” the city council with allegations of corruption, adding fuel to a spat between City Hall and the council.
Accompanying members of the alliance, councilors told a press conference that Lai was making an issue of funds earmarked for each constituency’s construction budget under “the guise of reform.”
The conflict between City Hall and the council has forced three extra sessions to resolve the impasse, so far to little result.
Photo: CNA
Commenting yesterday, Lai said now was the time for action and to work for the interests of residents of Greater Tainan.
The merger of Tainan City and Tainan County into a single municipality on Dec. 25 led councilors to suggest an increase of each councilor’s construction fund per constituency.
Lai questioned the legality of the proposed increase.
Greater Tainan Councilor Hung Yu-feng (洪玉鳳) said that if Lai meant to imply that councilors had misappropriate the funds, he should invite Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials who had used these funds to explain whether they had “filched” the money.
“If the legality of the earmarked constituency fund is ‘questionable,’ then former Tainan County commissioners Mark Chen (陳唐山) and Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智), former Tainan mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) and even Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) should be taken in by district prosecutors,” Hung said.
Greater Tainan Councilor Lee Tsung-fu (李宗富) said councilors had the right to make suggestions and that the earmarked funds were only to safeguard against potential refusals by City Hall in case of a funding shortage.
“City Hall takes care of who bids for construction, oversees it and signs the acceptance letter,” Lee said.
Greater Tainan Councilor Lee Wen-chun (李文俊) said that if Lai refused to apologize, the council would boycott extra sessions.
Greater Tainan already has a deficit of about NT$100 billion (US$3.4 billion), and its proposed budget for fiscal 2011 would only raise it further by NT$3.8 billion, Lee said.
“Balance the budget, then send it over for review,” Lee said.
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