Democracy in the City of Helsinki

I don't live in the City of Helsinki. I therefore do not have first hand knowledge or experience of how people can influence things in the City of Helsinki.

Earlier this year (2006) I  was sent volume 2 of the finnish magazine "Polemiikki", a word that can be translated to "Polemic". This number contains among other articles an interview with a certain Jacob Söderman. The interview was published long befor the City of Helsinki decided it wanted enlarged living space in the east (June 21, 2006). The interview is in finnish, and can be read in full here.

Who is Jacob Söderman? The name should ring a bell to almost every citizen in the European Union, but in case it does not, who is Jacob Söderman?

The article in the magazine "Polemiikki" gives the following information about Jacob Söderman.

• born 1938 in Helsinki
• educated jurist
• Chairman for the Union of Swedish-speaking Municipalities of Finland 1967-1971
• Member of the Finnish parliament (eduskunta) 1972-1982
• Minister of Justice 1971
• Minister of Health and Social Services 1982
• Governor ("Uudenmaan lääni")  1982-1989
• Parliamentary ombudsman 1989-1995
• European ombudsman 1995-2003

Original text from the interview in the "Polemiikki" magazine

"Söderman on huolissaan kunnallisen demokratian vähentymisestä. Kuntalaisten vaikutusmahdollisuudet ovat kaventuneet, koska kunnallisia luottamustoimia, elimiä ja lautakuntia on vähennetty tuntuvasti viime vuosina.

- Olen asunut suurimman osan elämästäni Helsingissä, eikä täällä ole kuntalaisilla käytännössä mahdollisuutta vaikuttaa. Virastot ja virkamiehet ratkaisevat asiat. Valtuusto on etäinen kuin YK:n yleiskokous, Söderman vertaa."

My translation:

Söderman is concerned about decrease in municipal democracy. The municipal peoples possibilites to influence has decreased, because the number of  elected representatives in various municipal boards and other bodies has been significantly decreased in recent years.

I have lived in Helsinki for the greatest part of my life, and here the municipal people have no possibilites  to influence in practice. The administrative agencies and the civil servants of the city decides. The City Council is as distant as the UN General assembly, Söderman compares.

These are very harsh words indeed on how democracy is working in the City of Helsinki!

In view of recent events in Helsinki these words are even more to the point than when they were said in the first place. Jacob Söderman isn't exactly nowbody. And if he has this opinion, one can only imagine how difficult it would be for an ordinary citizen in the City of Helsinki to have influence.

The people of the City of Helsinki should start asking members of the City Council and members of the City Board: