Freedom of Information Center of Armenia.

A few days ago, the Mayor of Ashtarak, G. Tamazyan, presented his report for the first half of 2009 to the public and the community council members. Let us just say, without getting into the substance of the report, that the mayor seemed somewhat surprised while presenting it.
First of all, he would share his detailed thoughts with the audience when presenting every line of the report, giving an impression that Mr. Tamazyan was reading a report from another agency and was finding out about it as he was reading it. For example, when he was reading the part about taxes or irrigation water, he said out loud: “That’s right, I agree with that’s written.

It is not a secret that the report was prepared by other people and the mayor did not spend sleepless nights writing it. It is also not news that he is supposed to know about any issue related to his city. Therefore, his surprise while presenting the report indicates that he is not only unfamiliar with the issues, but he also doesn’t know about his responsibilities. “Having supported the principles of local self-governance and as the leader of the Ashtarak community, I attach great importance to the open and transparent work style and to being accountable before the community council and the public.

The report covers the first half of the year 2009. According to current and four-year programs, the current activities of the staff have been organized and supervised, the staff responsibilities stemming from their functions have been carried out properly, and decisions have been passed, which have resulted in certain types of work done in the city. Heads of departments have prepared and submitted detailed reports on this work. Four community council meetings have been prepared, called and conducted in the reporting period. According to the existing procedures, the decisions adopted during these meetings were posted on special bulletin boards and published in the Dardz newspaper to ensure their openness,” – said the Mayor when presenting the report.

While the mayor was praising himself in front of the audience and saying that he works openly and transparently, a photo camera was busy capturing the fact that the bulletin boards throughout the city lack substance (the same bulletin boards where decisions should have been posted, according to the mayor). In reality, there were no decisions posted on bulletin boards. Moreover, the mayor would do anything to make sure that community leaders’ and council’s decisions do not reach the public. The bulletin boards contained advertising posters with names of singers coming to town, private ads for apartments and services, etc. In other words, they contained anything except mayor’s and community council’s decisions.

The FOI Center provides bulletin boards to communities with the help of USAID, so that communities can post decisions adopted by local self-governance bodies that are relevant to citizens. The FOI Center has placed a number of bulletin boards in numerous communities. Many communities use them effectively, while others, including Ashtarak, use their at the community leaders’ discretion.