The administrative audit of the 8th Suwon City Council has changed from those of the past.
As the first administrative audit under the full-time basic local government councilor system, there is a shared perspective among monitoring groups of civic organizations, civil servants, and attending citizens that it is meeting expectations of being different from the past in some way.
The monitoring group, composed of civil servants and civic organizations that observed the first administrative affairs inspection that began on the 29th of last month, finds no disagreement that council members were thoroughly prepared for the audit.
In short, they say signs of extensive preparation are evident in the question-and-answer process on key issues.
It represents a departure from the vague questioning of the past and rubber-stamp audits. The characteristic of this audit is that issues worthy of investigation are being firmly addressed.
Regarding the selection of review councilors related to the Suwon City Treasury selection, concerns about inadequate review due to hasty selection were raised, and regarding the Gwanggyo Techno Valley development and the uncertain operational direction of Woncheong Leisure Park, evaluations indicate that Suwon City has been neglecting to properly address these issues from a citizen's perspective.
In particular, rather than "vague" questioning without accurate data and evidence, questions are now grounded in sufficient investigation and data, prompting the executive branch to recognize problems and propose realistic alternatives or solutions.
In fact, during a health center audit by the Health and Welfare Committee, the lack of a single violation in handling hospital and clinic laundry was pointed out, leading the executive branch to admit that "failure to conduct inspections was due to insufficient personnel for inadequate supervision" and yielded the response "we will henceforth thoroughly manage patient hygiene."
Ultimately, the sincere and responsible attitude of council members toward the audit is also changing the attitude of audited civil servants.
With intensive audits conducted by standing committees within short time frames, the characteristic "marathon audits" that extend well into the night have emerged as a notable feature of this audit.
In the case of the Autonomous Planning Committee, which audited only business under the General Affairs Division and Information and Communication Division, the administrative audit was completed at 6 p.m. on the first day, when civil servants leave work. The Urban Construction Committee also conducted audits past 8 p.m. on the first day of the audit, having Chinese food such as jjajangmyeon delivered for dinner.
A representative of a civic organization participating in the gallery said, "The 8th City Council appears to have improved councilor expertise, possibly because councilors have been intensively assigned to standing committees aligned with their specialized fields."
A civil servant observing the audit also conveyed the changed atmosphere, saying, "The councilors' preparation for the audit seems more thorough than other times, so it appears we will have to work quite hard."
A Suwon City Council official stated, "We have prepared various methods including audit technique sharing through legislative affairs seminars, data collection using local networks, and gathering of citizen opinions for an efficient and effective administrative affairs audit."
Meanwhile, the Suwon Participatory Budget Consortium, composed of nine civic organizations including Gyeonggi Welfare Citizens Alliance and Suwon Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, has organized an observation group of about 30 members to observe the administrative affairs audit from the 29th of last month through the 5th, during which they plan to analyze and evaluate policy areas and the legislative activities of city councilors.
Park Yun-beom, Director of Gyeonggi Welfare Citizens Alliance, said, "We plan to review the implementation status of the city's administration and policies and conduct verification and evaluation of major policy issues raised in the audit," adding, "We have focused on evaluating the administrative affairs audit activities of city councilors and the effectiveness of legislative operations."
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