Plans to create youth, housing and environment offices shelved; complex building project using Korea Land and Housing Corporation land purchase also stalled amid resident backlash fears
Songpa-gu District Mayor Seo Gang-seok urges council to reconvene and pass both measures
The Songpa-gu Council has blocked two key measures put forward by the district office — an administrative reorganization plan and a proposal to build a multipurpose complex in Bangi 2-dong — raising concerns about disruptions to district governance.
The council's administrative committee shelved the reorganization plan on Thursday, preventing it from reaching Wednesday's plenary session. The plan called for three new offices: a youth policy division to handle youth affairs, a housing and urban affairs bureau to accelerate reconstruction and redevelopment, and an environment and garden bureau to improve green spaces.
Also on Thursday, the fiscal welfare committee voted to strike the proposed revision to the public property management plan for the Bangi 2-dong multipurpose complex and send it back for further review, keeping both measures off Wednesday's plenary agenda.
The Bangi 2-dong project envisioned the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) purchasing district-owned land for about 90 billion won ($67.8 million) to build youth housing, with Songpa-gu using the proceeds to construct the multipurpose complex.
Songpa-gu had determined that the original project structure was unfavorable to the district and had been negotiating an alternative with LH. Under the previous district mayor's plan, LH would have built youth rental housing units of about 46 square meters, operated them for 30 years and then donated the facility to Songpa-gu.
Songpa-gu District Mayor Seo Gang-seok concluded that arrangement was disadvantageous to the district and spent the entirety of the eighth elected term negotiating with LH. Those talks ultimately produced an agreement under which LH would purchase the land outright, according to the district office.
Residents of Bangi 2-dong had been pressing for the public property management plan to pass, as the complex has long been a priority project for the community. With the plan failing to clear the council, concerns about further delays are expected to grow.
The council's handling of the reorganization plan has also drawn criticism as unusual. Local government administrative structures are governed by relevant laws and ordinances, and any reorganization proposed by a district mayor must go through council deliberation and a vote.
Seo said the reorganization plan and the public property management proposal were matters for the benefit of Songpa-gu and its residents, regardless of his relationship with local political circles. "Both measures are 1,000 percent for Songpa-gu and its residents," he said, urging the council to reconvene as soon as possible and pass them.
With the reorganization needed to drive the ninth elected term's policy agenda and the long-awaited Bangi 2-dong complex project both stalled in council review, attention is turning to how Songpa-gu and the council will resolve the standoff.
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
