Controversial Czech town leadership supports welfare restriction amendment

Today in the town of Nový Bydžov, representatives of 48 towns from around the Czech Republic have been meeting since 10 AM in the local Jirásek Theater to discuss the problems they are experiencing with socially “inadaptable” people. The mayors were invited by the Nový Bydžov leadership to present their experiences and their proposals for solutions to these problems.

Several members of the Czech lower house, led by Czech MP Ivana Řápková (Civic Democrats -ODS), also agreed to participate in the meeting. Řápková has become famous not only because of doubts as to whether she actually earned the diploma she was awarded by the Law Faculty in Plzeň, but because of the harsh statements she made about members of the Roma minority in the town of Chomutov during her time as its mayor. Řápková is preparing several legislative amendments aimed at restricting the allocation of welfare benefits. Nový Bydžov intends to support this effort by winning over others to support this solution to the municipalities’ problems with those who are “inadaptable”, according to Vice-Mayor Bohumil Orel (independent).

Representatives of the Union of Towns and Villages (Svaz měst a obcí) are also attending the discussion. The morning half of the program features presentations by several towns, to be followed by a discussion and the adoption of a joint declaration, which according to the Mayor of Nový Bydžov, Pavel Louda (ODS) should be sufficiently “acceptable, comprehensible, and forceful.”

The draft text of the declaration to be voted on by those present speaks, among other things, of support for anchoring the practices of Czech MP Řápková into legislation. It mentions making welfare benefits subject to collections, the option of attaching benefits for aid to those in material distress, and the publishing of information about rent defaulters on the official bulletin boards of administrative bodies. In point 1 of their draft call, the mayors propose introducing the sanction of banning someone from residence; further defining the concept of “nighttime quiet”; abandoning the privacy protection requirements to which social work agencies are subjected; and introducing misdemeanor registries. The declaration also proposes increasing the powers of municipalities with respect to persons who reside somewhere long-term without registering as permanent residents. The decider on and provider of welfare benefits should continue to be town and village governments, according to the drafters of the declaration.

Nový Bydžov town council members hope the representatives of the towns present at today’s meeting will also join them in their request for a change to the law on lotteries which would make it possible for municipalities to regulate gambling and to use the money from the most lucrative operations for preventive activities. The declaration should be presented at a press conference this afternoon and will be published in full tomorrow on the town hall website.

When we asked the mayor what he meant by the declaration being “forceful”, he answered: “The forcefulness will concern, for example, support for the bills to be put forward by MP Řápková, who is preparing to submit amendments to laws that would toughen up the allocation of welfare benefits to make them better-arranged, controllable, defined, not unlimited -and in case of need, revocable.”

Why do they want to support Ivana Řápková in particular? “She visited our town at the start of this year already, she has had more experience with inadaptable citizens, and we believe the bills she has prepared in the area of the social system and security need to be supported from below, which is to say, by the towns. We want to help her with that,” Vice-Mayor Bohumil Orel told us today.

A press conference is currently scheduled to take place at 15:00 after the meeting. News server Romea.cz has correspondents there who will report from the scene.

Speaking yesterday on a special Czech Television edition of the program “Václav Moravec’s Questions”, which was broadcast from Nový Bydžov, Mayor Louda said the towns could be helped in their fight against the problems caused by “inadaptable” residents by being granted greater powers. He had in mind the option of canceling a person’s welfare benefits should that person spend the money in bars or in gambling rooms playing the slot machines. Czech Interior Minister Radek John (Public Affairs) said yesterday on the same program that the road to resolving these problems could be for municipalities to either ban gambling on their territory or tax it.

The country recently became aware of the town of Nový Bydžov, where today’s meeting is taking place, due to the town’s “difficulties with Roma”, as Mayor Louda generalizes them. The situation in the town of 7 000 came to a head last November after several muggings and the rape of a young woman. Almost half of the town signed a petition demanding their security be ensured. The mayor then issued a declaration that included harsh anti-Roma statements, for which he now faces criminal charges. The town has permitted a private security agency to operate on its territory and increased the number of police officers on patrol. It was also included as a possible future locality for the operations of the Agency for Social Inclusion in Roma Localities.