City may move to oust mayor
Jurczyk has stirred controversy with populist-nationalist rhetoric and actions that favor local investors over foreign companies. A series of investors, including Australian-backed Chelverton Properties, Germany-based Euroinvest Saller and American-backed Prosynchem, had all seen agreements they had signed with the previous city government thrown out or annulled since Jurczyk came to power.
ŇJurczyk came in and said ÔPoland for the Poles' and declared that the property had to be sold to Polish capital,O said Sebastian Beck, assistant to Saller Group President Helmut Weniger. Saller had won a tender for a five-hectare parcel on which it planned to build a hypermarket, but Jurczyk called a new tender, which was won by the Szczecin Capital Group, led by local retailer Komfort.
Jurczyk's grip on power loosened after opposition parties Đ Solidarity Election Action (AWS) and Freedom Union (UW) Đ managed to convince eight of 10 members of the governing coalition to join them on a key procedural vote. AWS and UW have 25 seats on the 60-member council, which is controlled by Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and Jurczyk's Independent Social Movement party (NRS). Eight NRS members joined with the opposition in rejecting the executive board's policy goals for 1999. By rejecting it, the council took the first step toward removing Jurczyk, said Jacek Jekiel, leader of UW's council group.
Normally, the city's board can only be ousted by a two-thirds vote of the council. But the council may unseat the board with just a simple majority vote if it has rejected the board's annual policy goals, Jekiel said.
The vote to decide the board and Jurczyk's fate will be taken May 17, Jekiel said. AWS and UW will need to hold onto the votes of at least six of the NRS council members to achieve the 31 votes needed to oust the board. There is another possibility though. Talks are reportedly underway between AWS, UW and SLD to form a Ňgrand coalition.O ŇIt's possible Đ people are calling it the ÔWarsaw configuration,'O said Maciej Kapica, director of the Szczecin-based Northern Chamber of Commerce. If a government could be formed between these three parties it would have a commanding 18-seat majority.
ŇJurczyk came in and said ÔPoland for the Poles' and declared that the property had to be sold to Polish capital,O said Sebastian Beck, assistant to Saller Group President Helmut Weniger. Saller had won a tender for a five-hectare parcel on which it planned to build a hypermarket, but Jurczyk called a new tender, which was won by the Szczecin Capital Group, led by local retailer Komfort.
Jurczyk's grip on power loosened after opposition parties Đ Solidarity Election Action (AWS) and Freedom Union (UW) Đ managed to convince eight of 10 members of the governing coalition to join them on a key procedural vote. AWS and UW have 25 seats on the 60-member council, which is controlled by Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and Jurczyk's Independent Social Movement party (NRS). Eight NRS members joined with the opposition in rejecting the executive board's policy goals for 1999. By rejecting it, the council took the first step toward removing Jurczyk, said Jacek Jekiel, leader of UW's council group.
Normally, the city's board can only be ousted by a two-thirds vote of the council. But the council may unseat the board with just a simple majority vote if it has rejected the board's annual policy goals, Jekiel said.
The vote to decide the board and Jurczyk's fate will be taken May 17, Jekiel said. AWS and UW will need to hold onto the votes of at least six of the NRS council members to achieve the 31 votes needed to oust the board. There is another possibility though. Talks are reportedly underway between AWS, UW and SLD to form a Ňgrand coalition.O ŇIt's possible Đ people are calling it the ÔWarsaw configuration,'O said Maciej Kapica, director of the Szczecin-based Northern Chamber of Commerce. If a government could be formed between these three parties it would have a commanding 18-seat majority.
