Kohtla-Järve’s city management was too much for the previous mayor, and several substantial problems remain unsolved, and I am convinced that the Center Party will be able to stand up for people’s interests better in the new coalition, said Sergei Lopin, chairman of the Kohtla-Järve Center Party faction.
At today’s extraordinary meeting of the Kohtla-Järve city council, mayor Virve Linder was voted out of confidence, and the Central Party’s partner in the new coalition is the Social Democratic Party. “The city management must become more efficient and the welfare of the residents must be prioritized,” said Sergei Lopin, who was also elected as the deputy chairman of the council. “We jointly saw the need for change, because the mayor did not manage to use the city budget prudently, and the suggestions of the city residents were not taken into account.”
The social democrat Henri Kaselo was elected as the new mayor, the positions of deputy mayor belong to the Center Party: Aleksandr Keivabu (development and economic sector), Evelyn Danilov (social sector) and Deniss Šalkauskas (education and culture sector). “The candidates presented by the faction of the Center Party are very strong, and we believe that the new mayor and his team will be able to bring positive changes to the management of the city and the daily life of the residents,” said Sergei Lopin.
“Everyone knows that next year will bring great challenges, because we will switch to Estonian-language education,” added Sergei Lopin. “It is important that the transition to Estonian-language education takes place as smoothly and effectively as possible, but unfortunately we still do not know how many teachers meet the new qualification standards. If other cities have already approved an action plan for the transition of schools to Estonian-language education, nobody has seen this document in Kohtla-Järve.”
According to the voting results, 14 members of the city council supported the formation of a new city government.