On November 9th last year, Choi Ho-kwon, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo District, chatting with elderly residents at the Daedong Senior Center in Daerim 2-dong.
Bold Departure from Traditional New Year's Greeting Meetings... Prioritizing Communication and Meetings with Residents
From January 16 to February, Visiting 169 Senior Centers in the Area to Greet Seniors for the New Year
Listening Closely to Seniors' Suggestions and Complaints for the New Year
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yeongdeungpo-gu (Mayor Choi Ho-kwon) will hold a meaningful time with seniors by visiting 169 senior centers in the district from January 16 to February to celebrate the 2023 Year of the Black Rabbit with the event "Warm Companionship with Seniors for the New Year."
The district plans to break away from the traditional New Year's greeting meetings that targeted key figures and instead spend time meeting and communicating with seniors on the front lines. Mayor Choi will start on January 16 in Yeongdeungpo-dong, greeting about 2,500 seniors and exchanging New Year's wishes. He also plans to listen attentively to their suggestions and complaints.
Additionally, the district has expanded and newly established support projects for senior centers to ensure a warm and secure old age, including ▲increased operating expenses for senior centers ▲new lunch support funds to provide warm meals ▲support for standing furniture to aid joint health ▲and leisure programs such as horticulture.
Mayor Choi Ho-kwon said, "I am grateful to the seniors who warmly welcomed the New Year," and added, "As mayor, I will work with a sense of mission to make Yeongdeungpo a place where seniors can live happy and healthy lives."
Furthermore, Mayor Choi plans to meet various residents starting with this "Warm Companionship with Seniors for the New Year." He stated that this year he will directly listen to residents' voices in various locations and reflect them in district administration.
Kim Tae-woo, Mayor of Gangseo-gu, Cleans Various Areas of Banghwa 1-dong and Gonghang-dong on the 14th and 15th
Mayor Kim: "We Will Make Gangseo-gu Clean Without Cigarette Butts"
Kim Tae-woo, Mayor of Gangseo-gu, Seoul, launched a large-scale alley cleaning campaign in Banghwa 1-dong and Gonghang-dong to create a clean village free of cigarette butts.
On the 14th, Mayor Kim, along with the Autonomous Disaster Prevention Group, community leaders, and residents, started cleaning from Banghwa 1-dong Community Center, covering areas such as Sinbanghwa Intersection, Bangsin Market, and Ssamsi Children's Park throughout Banghwa 1-dong. (Photo)
Despite the rainy and harsh weather, Mayor Kim and residents walked about 1.5 km for approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes, removing fallen leaves and cigarette butts accumulated in rainwater drains.
They meticulously cleaned every corner of alleys that are not easily visible and areas where cleaning vehicles cannot enter.
Mayor Kim took cleaning tongs to the streets again on Sunday following Saturday's efforts.
On the 15th, with sleet falling, he spent about 2 hours with residents picking up trash throughout Gonghang-dong, from busy streets like Meokja Alley, Line 9 Gonghang Market Station, and Line 5 Songjeong Station to alleys around Songjeong-ro and Bethel Church.
In particular, they also removed accumulated debris such as cigarette butts and fallen leaves inside rainwater drains, which are a major cause of rainwater backflow.
Mayor Kim said, "I started street cleaning to create a Gangseo-gu without cigarette butts and to meet residents more closely," and expressed deep gratitude to everyone who participated in the clean village campaign despite the bad weather of snow and rain.
He added, "The cleaner the area, the less likely people are to litter," and said, "We will continue to carry out clean village campaigns with residents to create a Gangseo-gu free of cigarette butts."
Mayor Kim's "field-centered alley cleaning" began in October last year. He has been visiting 20 local neighborhoods in sequence to focus on cleaning vulnerable areas together with residents.
On January 13, Oh Eun-seok, the mayor of Dobong-gu, announced key core policies and visions at the 2023 Dobong-gu New Year's Meeting.
Dobong-gu Presents Key Core Policies and Five Visions for 2023
New Year's Greeting Meeting Held on January 13 at Dobong-gu Office Seoninbong Hall
Dobong-gu Mayor's New Year's Address Promises New Changes for a Leaping Dobong
Dobong-gu (Mayor Oh Eon-seok) held the "2023 Dobong-gu New Year's Greeting Meeting" on January 13 at the Seoninbong Hall of the district office, attended by about 950 residents and others.
The event began with a performance by the Dobong District Symphony Orchestra and dancer Shin Hyun-ji, followed by viewing a promotional video of Dobong-gu, the mayor's New Year's address, and New Year's greetings. The event concluded with a joint performance by the Dobong District Symphony Orchestra, women's choir, and children's choir singing a hopeful new year song, followed by a rice cake cake-cutting ceremony with the guests to wish for the happiness and well-being of Dobong residents in the Year of the Black Rabbit.
On the day, Mayor Oh Eon-seok shared the New Year's greetings and the district administration direction "Change, Growth, Future Together! Dobong," along with five future visions of Dobong: ▲Convenient transportation, a growing and developing city Dobong ▲Vibrant economy, a leaping future city Dobong ▲Warm companionship, a caring welfare city Dobong ▲Life with rest, an attractive cultural city Dobong ▲Friendly administration, a communicative and empathetic city Dobong.
Based on the philosophy of prioritizing the people's livelihood budget, promoting virtuous circulation of the local economy, supporting socially vulnerable groups, and establishing a foundation to strengthen urban competitiveness, the district has prepared a total budget of 791.9 billion KRW and plans to actively operate the 8th elected term to improve residents' quality of life.
Mayor Oh Eon-seok said, "As we welcome the Year of the Black Rabbit, symbolizing prosperity and abundance, I hope this year brings success in all your endeavors," and expressed his New Year's aspiration, "In 2023, the practical first year of the 8th elected term, we will leap forward like a rabbit and bring new changes to Dobong-gu together with residents."
Lee Soon-hee, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu (far left), and Yoo Je-cheol, Vice Minister of Environment (second from left), are inspecting the recycling sorting process.
Lee Soon-hee, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu, Visits Recycling Processing Site in Beon-dong with Vice Minister Yoo Je-cheol of the Ministry of Environment to Check Waste Separation Process and Discuss Policies
Lee Soon-hee, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu, visited the recycling sorting and processing facility located in Beon-dong with Yoo Je-cheol, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Environment, on January 13 to inspect the waste separation process and discuss facility improvements.
On the day, Mayor Lee and Vice Minister Yoo visited the vinyl sorting room, recycling storage, and sorting work area to encourage the workers' efforts.
They then checked the transparent PET bottle recycling compression process and held a discussion session to have an in-depth conversation about environmental policies.
The district ranked 2nd among about 240 local governments nationwide in the 2019 comprehensive evaluation of excellent local governments for free home collection of waste home appliances. In 2021, it proactively established a dedicated sorting line for transparent PET bottles, building a resource circulation system connecting separation, collection, product manufacturing, and consumption.
In 2022, Gangbuk-gu was also selected as the best local government nationwide in the "Waste Banner Recycling Project Plan Evaluation" hosted by the Ministry of Environment.
Mayor Lee Soon-hee said, "Gangbuk-gu is doing its best to practice carbon neutrality and overcome the climate crisis," and added, "We will firmly establish a resource circulation system and realize the value of eco-friendly district administration."
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