The Mouvement Réformateur + (MR+) party in Brussels City does not want to reduce the number of municipal staff, according to the party’s lead candidate for the upcoming local elections, David Weytsman.
Instead, the city should better manage operating and energy costs, streamline some structures and duplicate roles, and examine excessive subsidies, Weytsman recommended.
His comments were in response to an earlier statement by Mayor Philippe Close (Parti Socialiste), who set a red line for the PS-Vooruit list, warning against any move on the city’s education sector or the number of municipal agents.
Close’s comments were a reference to potential measures regarding education and public services that are under consideration in Wallonia and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation by the MR-Les Engagés coalition.
However, Weytsman criticised the mayor’s approach. “Playing on fears to avoid discussing the real issues is a well-known tactic,” he said.
Weytsman proposed measures such as tidying up the city’s management, making an all-out effort to employ 450 municipal officers, improving wages for public sanitation workers and introducing bonuses pegged to results.
According to Weytsman, MR+ plans to bring order to municipal budgets, reduce the debt, and fund this by controlling the city’s operating costs, which have “increased significantly in recent years.”
