"Sharp and Substantial"... Hanam City Council Concludes 2024 Year-End Audit

Report Preparation... 159 Issues Pointed Out and Correction Demanded by the Committee on Autonomous Administration and Urban Construction
Poor Submission of Executive Materials and Repeated Formal Responses... Undermining the Effectiveness of Administrative Inspection
Adoption of 'Administrative Audit Result Report' at the 3rd Plenary Session of the 336th Regular Meeting on the 19th

The first administrative audit of the second half of the 9th Hanam City Council concluded after a seven-day intense session.

Hanam City Council Autonomy and Administration Committee '2024 Administrative Affairs Audit'. Provided by Hanam City Council

According to the Hanam City Council (Chairman Geum Gwang-yeon) on the 3rd, the 2024 administrative audit was conducted with the goal of accurately assessing the operation status of Hanam city administration, urging necessary corrections, and reflecting these in budget reviews and legislative activities as a ‘policy audit.’

In particular, this year’s administrative audit was the third conducted since the inauguration of Mayor Lee Hyeon-jae of Hanam, focusing on a thorough diagnosis of pledge projects such as ‘K-Star World’ and other major priority projects, concentrating on pressing public issues, conducting in-depth inquiries, and proposing effective policy alternatives.

First, the Autonomy Administration Committee (Chairman Lim Hee-do) conducted in-depth administrative audits from the 21st to the 27th of last month, starting with the Legal Affairs Auditor and Public Relations Officer, followed by the Planning and Finance Bureau, Autonomy Administration Bureau, Economic and Cultural Bureau, Welfare Bureau, Lifelong Education Center, and investment and contribution institutions (Hanam Cultural Foundation, Hanam Volunteer Center, Hanam Education Foundation), questioning current issues.

During this administrative audit, Committee Chairman Lim Hee-do along with council members Jeong Hye-young, Jeong Byeong-yong, Park Seon-mi, and Oh Ji-yeon refrained from strategic remarks or emotional and irrational inquiries, focusing instead on presenting clear grounds for questions and identifying problems with persuasive logic to uncover new realities.

The Autonomy Administration Committee specifically pointed out issues such as ▲lack of workplace harassment surveys and absence of a reporting center ▲lenient punishments for public officials’ misconduct and deviant behaviors such as unjust acquisition of overtime pay ▲non-compliance with guidelines for hiring fixed-term workers ▲attendance and management issues of Hanam Cultural Foundation executives and employees, urging strengthened management and supervision.

Additionally, the committee sharply criticized problems including ▲possible legal violations and measures to prevent recurrence at the ‘Super Pop Music Festival’ ▲establishment and operational management improvements of public funerals for unclaimed deceased persons ▲strengthening criminal background checks and thorough management of child and youth programs ▲lowest level of renewable energy supply in Gyeonggi Province and measures to address this ▲reconsideration of relocating Hanam Sports Complex and strengthening citizen opinion collection ▲promotion of the execution of the Winrae Combined Heat and Power Plant coexistence cooperation fund, demanding a total of 103 points of correction and improvement.

Lim Hee-do, Chairman of the Autonomy Administration Committee, stated, “Although administrative audits are a powerful means for the council to check the executive branch, it was difficult to grasp detailed content due to insufficient data submission. This year’s audit was not merely a review of past administration but focused on identifying specific problems, pointing out violations of higher laws, ordinances, and administrative guidelines, ordering improvements, and striving to propose practical alternatives.”

Meanwhile, the Urban Construction Committee (Chairman Choi Hoon-jong) conducted administrative audits from the 25th to the 29th of last month targeting the Urban Housing Bureau, Transportation and Construction Bureau, Safety and Environment Bureau, Future City Project Group, Health Center, Eco-friendly Business Office, and Hanam Urban Corporation.

During this audit, Chairman Choi Hoon-jong along with council members Park Seon-mi, Kang Seong-sam, Park Jin-hee, and Oh Seung-chul focused on analyzing reform, specificity, and effectiveness of major policies and core projects, demanding clear corrective actions and proposing institutional improvements, demonstrating skillfulness in eliciting meaningful responses from the executive branch.

The Urban Construction Committee concentrated on policy inquiries with solid investigations and sharp criticisms regarding ▲lack of consistency in administrative crackdowns on illegal activities within development-restricted areas ▲legal violations in the creation of temporary parking spaces in Changwoo-dong ▲excessive labor costs and inefficiency of routes related to the semi-public village bus system ▲lack of interdepartmental consultation and procedural defects in the creation of the Ochre Road.

They also pointed out ▲inappropriate permits for forest and farmland reclamation within development-restricted areas ▲absence of investment attraction plans and frequent abrupt changes in service contracts for the ‘K-Star World’ development project ▲financial burden caused by deficits in the operation of Subway Line 5, continuing the administrative audit reasonably without excessive logical leaps, while demanding a total of 56 points of correction and improvement including ▲ensuring transparency and fairness in the Camp Colburn urban development project ▲measures to improve taxi operation rates to enhance citizen transportation convenience ▲comprehensive measures to resolve long-unexecuted urban planning facilities.

Choi Hoon-jong, Chairman of the Urban Construction Committee, said, “This year’s administrative audit revealed repeated problems pointed out in previous audits, and the executive branch’s follow-up on last year’s issues and supplementary measures was insufficient, undermining the effectiveness of the audit. Thorough post-audit verification is necessary, and institutionalizing the monitoring of the implementation of last year’s issues by each bureau going forward is required.”

The Autonomy Administration Committee and the Urban Construction Committee deliberated and resolved the ‘2024 Administrative Audit Results Report’ on the 2nd and 3rd respectively, with the 2024 administrative audit results report scheduled for approval at the 3rd plenary session of the 2nd regular meeting of the 336th session on the 19th.

Chairman Geum Gwang-yeon expressed, “Although seven days is a short period to thoroughly examine the entire city administration, I deeply appreciate the hard work of fellow council members who sacrificed holidays and devoted themselves day and night to reviewing vast amounts of data. The administrative audit results will be sent to the executive branch after final approval, and I ask that the results or plans for the adopted items be reported at next year’s extraordinary session.”

Meanwhile, the council held the 2nd plenary session of the 2nd regular meeting of the 336th session on the 4th to listen to Mayor Lee Hyeon-jae’s policy speech regarding next year’s budget and will conduct reviews of the 2025 budget proposal and the 4th supplementary budget for this year starting from the 5th.