District Mayor Kim Holds 45 School Communications, 74 Alley Communications, 32 Meeting Days and On-Site Communications... 'Residents as Experts,' Learning a Lot from Residents by Visiting Every Corner... Efforts to Communicate with Residents and Internal Staff
At the Alley Listening Session with the District Mayor, District Mayor Kim Kyung-ho is smiling and warmly greeting residents.
Kim Kyung-ho, Mayor of Gwangjin District, is strengthening on-site communication with residents and school officials.
On the 6th, Mayor Kim held a communication meeting with school officials and parents at Gwangjin School. About 20 parents and school officials attended, where they listened to the school's difficulties and current issues, discussed improvement directions together, and freely exchanged opinions.
School communication is one of the 'communication' channels emphasized by Mayor Kim Kyung-ho in the 8th term of the civil administration, and is part of the 'communication administration' that involves directly visiting school sites to listen to the voices of residents.
Since the 8th term, there have been 45 meetings, with various opinions pouring in. The most frequent concerns were environmental improvements due to aging school facilities such as replacement of heating and cooling systems, and many opinions focused on student safety, including traffic safety guidance on commuting routes and repair work on school routes. In response, the district allocated and supported 5 billion KRW in educational expense subsidies in 2023, and plans to expand support next year by reflecting the opinions from school sites as much as possible.
Mayor Kim Kyung-ho is an expert in communication administration who listens to and empathizes with residents' stories on-site and works to resolve issues. The alley communication, which started in October last year, is a representative communication administration reflecting Mayor Kim’s emphasis on the importance of on-site presence. Under five themes?▲alley cleaning ▲alley senior care ▲alley care ▲alley listening ▲alley volunteering?he held a total of 74 sincere meetings with residents, listened to their voices, and actively reflected them in district administration.
‘Meeting Day with the Mayor’ and ‘On-site Communication for Civil Complaints’ are also ongoing. Complaints received are promptly handled, and the mayor meets residents directly on-site to listen to their voices and discuss solutions. Through ‘Meeting Day’ and ‘On-site Communication,’ a total of 44 complaints were directly reviewed and 26 resolved.
To reflect residents’ demands and opinions, a communication budget was established. This is a system that comprehensively manages by listening to residents’ stories through various communication channels, budgeting, and implementing accordingly. Reflecting residents’ opinions on projects such as senior centers environment improvement, street tree replacement, and district office building maintenance, a total of 66 projects with a communication budget of 9.6 billion KRW are being promoted.
In addition, continuous communication is driving changes in Gwangjin, including maintenance of 42 street shops, creation of 184 temporary public parking spaces on the site of the Hwayang Substation, installation of 23 odor reduction devices, expansion of 493 CCTV cameras across 130 locations, and resolution of suspected hoarding and illegal waste disposal.
Mayor Kim also maintains steady communication with internal staff as ‘good friends.’ He aimed to create an organizational culture where employees can comfortably propose and improve unreasonable practices or inconveniences. Through programs such as ‘Communication Talk Concert,’ ‘Birthday Celebration Day,’ and ‘Communication Power Plant,’ time was spent sharing thoughts and emotions with employees to foster understanding.
Kim Kyung-ho, Mayor of Gwangjin District, said, “I consider residents as local experts. I continuously visit sites, communicate with residents, and learn,” adding, “I will continue to do my best to create a ‘Happy Gwangjin that develops through communication’ with steady administration, even if slow, without losing my initial resolve.”
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