Background

Municipal management came up with the idea for a youth self-government day spontaneously. Following a series of discussions among a wide circle of experts, municipal councilors and teachers, a decision was made to organize the event on the occasion of the graduation of Class 2000 of the Ivan Momchilov High School and of May 21, the day of saint apostles Constantine and Elena and day of the city.

Practice

With the assistance of municipal experts and a school advisor, a complex elections system was used to elect a youth parliament of the Ivan Momchilov High School. Following the nomination of four candidates, the real elections were held. The person who got most votes would be mayor, the runners-up would be chair of the council, deputy-mayor and municipal secretary, respectively. In this way, all political parties (classes) would have a representative on the municipal management team. The four elected officials had to structure the administration by considering the wishes of their classmates.

The students adopted a decision that each class will nominate four municipal councilors. This was used to elect a municipal council of 17 councilors, including the elected chair. The elections were carried out without problems. The four officials elected were: Hristo Petrov, mayor; Stanimir Ivanov, deputy-mayor; Yoana Argirova, municipal secretary; Darina Velcheva, chair of the council.

A meeting of the two municipal teams was held the day before the great event. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the issues that would be reviewed at the staff meeting and the agenda for the Municipal Council meeting. Interviews for the local newspaper were prepared to announce that the mayor will convene a staff meeting, the deputy-mayor will deal with immediate issues, the municipal secretary will walk around the workplaces to monitor work, and the Municipal Council chair will chair the meeting in a spirit of tolerance.

At 8 a.m. on May 19, all employees went to work. No problems or conflicts arose in the allocation of responsibilities. The adults informed the youth on current problems. Citizen complaints related to waste collection were reviewed. The issues of top priority were set.

The Youth Municipal Council meeting began at 11 a.m. Different opinions were expressed and, upon reaching consensus, the most appropriate decisions were made.

The day ended at the municipal conference room, where the participants met the municipal management team and exchanged opinions and views.

Results

A decision was made to grant the Youth Municipal Council the right to represent students before the Municipal Council and the administration and to have advisory capacity in the discussions on youth issues. It was also decided to establish a youth organization for young people aged 16 or more, as well as to establish a youth employment office. A proposal was made to develop a program for the sustainable development of tourism in the municipality with the involvement of young people. Municipal management s intention is to make the Youth Self-Government Day an annual event that could happen either on Elena s city holiday or on the Day of the Bulgarian Municipality.