Wako City Council Conflict: Vice Mayor Resignation Resolution Causes Deliberation Standstill

“If the vice mayor does not attend, we will respond to deliberations,” said councilors at a press conference at Wako City Council.

Saitama Prefecture’s Wako City Council (18 in number) continues to be idle over the city’s response to the resolution recommending Vice Mayor Hidehiko Oshima’s resignation. A motion was made at the beginning of the session on February 22nd, and it was resolved that Deputy Mayor Oshima should resign, stating that he would not be allowed to attend the meeting after the resolution was passed. A member of parliament resigned. The meeting was adjourned because the number of members was less than the quorum (9 members) required to open the meeting. (Hiroshi Nakazato)

After the 26th, Mayor Mitsuko Shibasaki announced, “The resolution recommending resignation is based on a factual error and cannot be accepted.The deputy mayor will continue to attend city council meetings as part of his duties.”As a result, the meeting was postponed for two days, and the new year’s budget proposal was decided. The situation is such that it may affect deliberations.

On March 1, the third day of the suspension, 13 members held a press conference. “As a democracy, we cannot deliberate unless the council’s resolutions are given importance,” and “the mayor continues to act dishonestly,” criticizing the executive branch. On the other hand, he indicated his intention to resume deliberations if Deputy Mayor Oshima does not attend.

Chairman Keiji Tomizawa, who attended the press conference as an observer, said, “I have met with the mayor seven times, but (the mayor’s) attitude has hardened and we are in a difficult situation.”

In Wako City, there is an ongoing conflict between the city council and the executive branch over the issue of responsibility for theft and embezzlement of large sums of money by a former executive employee between 2012 and 2019. In 2019, former Mayor Takehiro Matsumoto and Deputy Mayor Oshima took pay cuts for their administrative and supervisory responsibilities. The city has announced an investigation by a third-party committee and measures to prevent it from happening again, but the council continues to insist that “the investigation into the cause of the incident was insufficient.”

Mayor Shibasaki sanctioned three proposals, including a supplementary budget bill to subsidize daycare centers’ utility costs, saying that they “could have an impact on the lives of citizens.” One of the proposals was an ordinance that would reduce the March salaries of Mayor Shibasaki and Deputy Mayor Oshima by one-tenth each for “disrupting last December’s assembly.”

In a comment released on the night of the 1st, Mayor Shibasaki clarified that he had requested Speaker Tomizawa to consider a request for attendance by the chairperson, which allows the meeting to be held even if a quorum is not reached, based on the Local Autonomy Act. We will move forward.”


2024-03-01 22:56:31
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