photo: Vít Hassan for PrahaIN.cz/Pavel Vyhnánek
POLITICIANS IN THEIR OWN WORDS: Deputy Mayor of the City of Prague 7, member of the City Council m. of Prague for Prague on their Facebook page on April 6 for international marathons.
In the wider center of Prague today, people are divided into two groups. Some have painful grimaces on their faces. But they are happy because they can run around town in a crowd. Whatever. Others also have painful grimaces on their faces. But they are unhappy because they have some people running around town while they can’t get anywhere or park because of the closures.
At the same time, everyone could be happy. One from the movement and the other from the money that their city earns from the marathon. Such a marathon is a financial gem for the city and its entrepreneurs. Foreign amateur runners have money. A lot of money. They usually travel accompanied by family members. They don’t get drunk. And they keep quiet at night. Can you imagine a better tourist? And TV broadcasts with Kenyan pros to top it all off give the city and its exteriors free publicity around the world.
Therefore, foreign capitals usually compete for international marathons. The fact that the people of Prague are still unhappy has two reasons. One is communication, and the city is largely responsible for it, which is usually satisfied with only information about traffic restrictions. The second, the larger one, is systemic and is due to the Czech budgetary determination of taxes, due to which the people of Prague will practically not see any tax revenue from the marathon – unlike the residents of other world capitals. The state collects the taxes, keeps the majority and distributes the rest among all regions and municipalities.
Yes, among those regions and municipalities that, with exceptions, mainly deal with ways to rob Prague of money and enrich themselves at its expense. Instead of racking their brains over how to change the system, so that regions and municipalities are motivated to create conditions for business, earn money, move the economy forward and not just envy and scold. In this, marathoners could be a good example for them.
