In 20 years, the municipality has been in and out of the Robek list four times. And Fauske still hasn’t got his finances in order. The budget that was adopted for next year shows an overspend of just over NOK 30 million. This means that money must be saved. One of the measures that has now been adopted is to move the mayor and the municipal director out of the town hall and into the neighboring building. This should result in savings of NOK 100,000 a year. – In addition, there will be some effects of co-location that are not calculated in kroner and øre, says mayor Marlen Rendall Berg (Sp). Until now, the administration in the municipality has been divided between two neighboring buildings in the municipality. Now the goal is to get everyone under the same roof. But it will not be in the municipality’s town hall. – Takes away respect But the decision arouses strong reactions. – We spent around NOK 30 million refurbishing the town hall a few years ago, says Anne Fagertun Stenhammer (SV). For two periods in the 90s, she had her daily workplace at the town hall as mayor of the municipality. The neighboring building to the town hall, the administration building, today houses several functions in Fauske municipality. The plan is now to gather all employees in the municipality under one roof. Photo: Andreas Nilsen Trygstad / news – That is why I react with shock and disbelief that people are moving out of the town hall and into an office building. She is horrified that one of Fauske’s leading signal buildings will no longer house the municipality’s management. – I have not heard of any mayors in Norway who have proposed closing their own town hall. I think you are taking away the respect for this unique signal building, she says. Excess capacity Today’s mayor, Marlen Rendall Berg (Sp), however, is of a completely different opinion. She is aware that there are several good reasons for the move in the municipality. – The municipal director wants to co-locate the staff in one building, both in terms of better security, work flow and working environment. Berg says that the current arrangement simply gives the municipality too much space. – We have two half-full houses. We have excess capacity on land. Marlen Rendall Berg (Sp) is mayor of Fauske. Now she is changing workplaces. Photo: Sondre Skjelvik / news She understands that the decision shakes many people’s feelings. Nevertheless, Berg believes that the solution is the best for the municipality. – The town hall is too small to be able to move the entire administration there. The mayor says that a working group has been set up to look at what the town hall can now be used for. Stenhammer, on the other hand, believes that the municipality’s functions should be gathered in precisely the town hall – and rather leased out the administration building to generate income for the municipality. – We have operated at the town hall for many years, and there has never been too little space for the functions that are normally at a town hall. In addition, she is skeptical about how much the municipality can actually save by leaving the town hall empty until a new area of use is found. – The town hall cannot stand without heat, water, insurance and maintenance. Then it will be destroyed.
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Rage after Fauske municipality decided to move out of its own town hall – news Nordland
