localcouncil2

THE LOCAL COUNCIL

The inhabitants in Vennesla elect the local counsil every fourth year, and it consists of 35 members, which is divided between seven parties. The mayor is the leader of the local counsil. But it also exists a so-called board of the local counsil, which consists of one fourt of the whole counsil. Here follows a list of the parties represented in the local counsil in Vennesla:

"Kristlig Folkeparti" is the largest and have twelve representatives

"Arbeiderpartiet" have nine representatives

"Fremskrittspartiet" have five representatives

"Høyre" have three representatives

"Senterpartiet" have also three representatives

"Sosialistisk venstreparti" have two representatives

"Venstre" have only one representative.

The main tasks to the local council are to decide causes that only affects those who live there. They are responsible for the schools from age of six to sixteen, social services and a lot of other things. They also take care of the taxes that the inhabitants have to pay and decide what to use this money on.

The reason why we have got such a system is that the local politicians have better chances/possibilities to find good solutians at the problems than the government. So this just makes it better for everybody.

The board of the local council.

The board of the local council is an elected organ in a municipality, an it is made of ¼ of the members of the local council. It takes care of the budget and other propositions. Then they put in a bill to the local council, and then it is up to them to make the final decision. The takes care of for instance:

The economic plan.
Cases which affects the budget.
The annual budget.
The tax-resolutions.
Future plans for the municipality.

Vennesla has not got it’s own board of the county council. Well, the board of the local council is a part of the plan- and economy committee. This committee takes care of the same cases that a board of the local council would have done.

In Vennesla this committee consists of 9 members including deputies. The committee’s leader is the mayor. They meet when the mayor or 1/3 of the members finds it necessary.

The Mayor:

Our mayor is currently Torild Brandsdal, she represents KrF, the biggest political party in Vennesla. The mayor’s most important task is to connect the different branches in the local government. She is the county’s representative toward the federal government and towards the massmedia, and she also functions as a president for the council. The mayor cannot make any decisions on her own, but she as some influence on most cases.

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