In these times and bearing in mind the various demands of the modern world, it is imperative to rethink Local Government, in an increasingly effective way, in order to meet the needs of the citizens.
Thus, it is increasingly important to define the following objectives:
– Ensure public management based on the principles of transparency, precaution, equity, subsidiarity and sustainability;
– Ensure the capacity of the Municipal Public Administration, promoting the increase of local autonomy and the reduction of bureaucracy in processes;
– Promote cooperation and the establishment of partners between the various agents, ensuring the responsibility of decision-makers and co-responsibility of citizens;
– Facilitate public access to information, allowing the effective participation of all sectors of society in the decision-making process;
– Promote policies aimed at capturing, fostering and sustaining investment and entrepreneurship.
For this, it is necessary to identify the critical factors and prioritize the actions to be developed with a view to minimizing the problems and maximizing the Municipalities' potential.
We can identify today the following critical factors:
– Technological infrastructures;
– Computer literacy;
– Information and services available online;
– Education for sustainability;
– Association tradition of the Municipalities;
– Financing of civil society activities;
– Nature of decision processes;
– Diversification of economic activity;
– Complementarity between sectors;
– Competitiveness of the Municipal economy.
These critical factors, after being analysed, may give rise to action plans with the participation of all public and private stakeholders, so that each Municipality defines its strategic development plan, in close connection with the others, so that it can be obtained from it. a strategic plan for the Region, in the medium and long term, and not, as it has existed over the years, without any benefit for the citizens.
Thus, it is possible to create Investment and Entrepreneurship Offices with the involvement of Parish Councils, through a participatory budget, and with process reengineering.
Promote the creation of Entrepreneur branches with the involvement of Commercial and Business Associations and the participation of Municipal Councils.
And finally, the existence of communication systems that facilitate communication between shared services (Municipality, Boards, Municipal Companies) and Commercial and Business Associations is possible.
Otherwise, it will not be possible to have Municipalities that promote openness, transparency and participation, expecting with this an increase in confidence in their institution.
Nor will it be possible to have effective and efficient Municipalities in the application of their policies, without all of their services having clear and measurable objectives, attributions, competences, processes and well-defined procedures, so that all their agents can be enriched and held accountable .
With all this, it is possible to make Municipalities more efficient, more participative, more profitable, in what is their core business, that is, the improvement of its citizens.
Author Francisco Severino
Member of the Installation Committee of the Regional Delegation of the Algarve of the Ordem dos Economistas and was Director of the Airports of Faro and Lisbon.
Opinion article published under the established protocol between our newspaper and the Algarve Regional Delegation of Order of Economists.
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