The South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Special City is moving to revise ordinances governing its political deputy mayor positions to resolve inconsistencies between the citizen nomination system and existing administrative structure regulations.
Under current ordinances, the city's deputy mayor posts are designated as the deputy mayor for culture and industry and the deputy mayor for economy and agriculture and forestry. The fields covered by the citizen nomination process — industry, jobs, the economy, labor, advanced strategic industries, civic sovereignty, youth and population policy, and health, welfare and gender equality — do not align with the administrative bodies specified in those ordinances.
Ahead of confirmation hearings for the deputy mayor positions, the city plans to submit to the city council an amendment to the ordinance on the establishment of administrative bodies for the South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Special City. The amendment would revise the titles and assigned duties of the deputy mayors.
The aim is to clarify what roles and responsibilities citizen-recommended and vetted candidates will take on once appointed, and to ensure that the areas of expertise they presented during the nomination process connect naturally with their actual duties.
The city also plans to ask the city council to cooperate on the ordinance revision and confirmation hearings as it works to establish stable city governance and a responsible decision-making structure in the early stages of the special city's launch.
"We will proactively revise the relevant ordinances ahead of the confirmation hearings so that the fields covered by the citizen nomination process are more clearly linked to the actual duties the deputy mayors will carry out," a city official said. "We will communicate and cooperate fully with the city council, which represents the citizens, to address any concerns and issues that arise."
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