– This is pointless. I can’t see that there is any good reason to let him be an anonymous applicant. That’s what Gunnar Bodahl-Johansen says. He is an expert on the Public Information Act. – We see more and more applicants who are exempt from public disclosure on applicant lists. It is very unfortunate, he believes. When Drammen municipality recently searched for a new director of community affairs, 19 applicants came in. Nine women and ten men. Among them two former Oslo city councillors, Rina Mariann Hansen (Ap) and Einar Wilhelmsen (MDG). The new director’s subordinate, Lene Basma, was also on the applicant list. One important name was missing. It was Bertil Horvli’s. Bertil Horvli’s name was not on the applicant list when Drammen was to hire a new director. He got the job. Photo: Spekterfoto It was he who ran away with the permanent director’s job. A position he already held and had held for a year and a half. He wished to remain anonymous, and he was allowed to do so. Bodahl-Johansen believes Drammen’s handling of the appointment is problematic. He goes so far as to call it a breach of the Public Disclosure Act. Publicity Act Anyone can demand access to information or documents from the public authorities Access to documents should give most people the opportunity to control spending and decisions in the public sector If the public authorities refuse to grant access, a legal basis for the secrecy must be provided. It is the Public Information Act that regulates the right to access, but also the public’s ability to refuse access. Source: Publicity Act. Excluded from the public (M) Horvli has held various management positions in Drammen municipality since 2007 and has an impressive CV. He has been development manager and urban development director. After the merger with Nedre Eiker and Svelvik in 2020, he became municipal manager for infrastructure and transport, until he was appointed to the position of director a year and a half ago. This is the job he has now secured. Gunnar Bodahl-Johansen knows the Freedom of Information Act inside out. Photo: Department of Journalism Bodahl-Johansen believes this creates distrust in the administration. Read the municipal director’s reasoning for keeping Horvli anonymous further down in the case. – It also makes people think that you handle your own in a different way to others, he says. There are two things he wants to highlight. One is consideration for the other applicants. The second is the very purpose of the Public Disclosure Act. That the public sector should be able to control the administration. – People who ask to be anonymous applicants, and who will work in the public sector, are not qualified to hold that type of position, he believes. Bertil Horvli will not comment on his application, and refers to the reply from the municipal director. The municipal director approved the exception Trude Andresen is the municipal director in Drammen. Photo: Drammen municipality It was municipal director Trude Andresen who approved that the acting director was exempted from public disclosure. The same lady employed him in a permanent position. She justifies it as follows: – We have made a concrete and real assessment of a written request we have received from the applicant. Our assessment is that the applicant’s justification for exemption in this case outweighs the consideration of transparency in the applicant list. news has been given access to Horvli’s application not to be on the applicant list. Andresen continues: – This applicant is responsible for large, ongoing processes towards private business, including negotiations on development agreements which are in a critical phase. Our assessment was that a publication could lead to concrete damage for the municipality in these processes and undermine the director’s authority, says Andresen. Bodahl-Johansen cannot understand what could harm the municipality here. – The problem is that this can quickly be perceived as camaraderie when you pull someone out of the hat who is already employed by the municipality, and who is allowed to remain anonymous. It shouldn’t be like that. It simply narrows our democracy, says Bodahl-Johansen.
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The new Drammens director was not on the applicant list
