New Year's Address Osan Mayor Lee Kwon-jae

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Choi Ki-ho] Osan Mayor Lee Kwon-jae stated that 2023, the Year of the Rabbit, will be a year in which he will "concentrate all his efforts so that balanced policies harmoniously permeate the lives of citizens."

The mayor said in his New Year's address on the 1st, "Although it has only been six months since my inauguration, through continuous efforts to ask and seek answers in the field, the fruits of my promises to citizens are gradually appearing," and urged public officials to "pursue policies of the people, by the people, and for the people for the citizens' lives to improve bit by bit, albeit slowly."

In response, the mayor emphasized that this year he will make every effort to help citizens build ▲a prosperous smart economic city ▲an enjoyable multicultural city ▲a happy welfare and health city ▲and a comfortable city of administrative exemplar.

To this end, the mayor stated, "I will pursue citizen-centered policies with citizens as my compass, and the delegated citizen power you have given me will be used only for citizens," adding, "Because I have the support of 240,000 Osan citizens who trust and support me, I will do my best until the end."

Below is the full text of Osan Mayor Lee Kwon-jae's New Year's address.

"I will concentrate all my efforts so that balanced policies harmoniously permeate the lives of citizens"

Esteemed citizens of Osan!

And members of the public service!

A hopeful new year in the Year of the Rabbit has dawned.

In the new year, I hope that all of you, citizens and public officials alike, will achieve all the hopes you desire,

and that it will be a year filled with good fortune.

Though we begin the new year with hope, COVID-19 continues to persist, and our lives are becoming increasingly difficult due to economic recession and high prices.

The financial conditions surrounding our city are just as unfavorable as the uncertain economic situation.

The expansion capacity of the budget scale according to revenue increase has already reached its limit, available expenditure resources are becoming increasingly scarce, and it is even more difficult to adjust the expenditure structure at once.

On top of this, unfortunately, financial burdens continue to recur, such as lawsuits over a 10 billion won repurchase right for Seoul National University land and standard labor costs exceeding nearly 12 billion won, and my heart aches.

It is regrettable that all these difficulties have appeared at once.

Yet there is hope.

Soon the mandate to wear indoor masks will be lifted, and some results of budgets I have requested from the central government and Gyeonggi Province to overcome the financial crisis are beginning to emerge.

The financial crisis can and must be overcome.

Dear citizens of Osan!

When I took office as mayor of Osan under the 8th elected administration in July of last year, I pledged to respect and communicate with citizens sincerely and to walk the path of integration with a humble attitude.

However, looking back at the path I have traveled since my inauguration, whether due to insufficient efforts on my part, the journey has not been easy.

Before I could accurately convey my intentions, I faced criticism from both inside and outside, and my sincerity was distorted.

But I am not discouraged. Six months is too short a time to reverse the ten years that have been lost.

If we communicate more and listen more carefully and understand each other's positions, I believe that one day you will understand my sincerity.

Though it has only been six months, through continuous efforts to ask and seek answers in the field, the fruits of the promises I made to citizens are gradually appearing.

A policy advisory committee consisting of about 30 members was formed last October to help design Osan's 100-year future master plan and is pursuing professional and efficient development measures.

Additionally, from the 50s and 60s generation with insight and wisdom on major city issues, we register experts with abundant knowledge and experience in city affairs to an expert pool, participate in various committees and advisory meetings, and substantively reflect policy decisions. We are also operating a youth policy committee and youth council to expand opportunities for communication and participation of the youth generation through efficient promotion of youth policies and ensuring youth participation in the policy decision-making process.

Furthermore, we have promoted a pedestrian environment improvement project on National Route 1 near Galgot-dong to provide citizens with a comfortable walking environment, and have improved traffic systems to promote smooth traffic flow and improve transportation convenience in Segyo Geuam Village. At the end of last year, we completed the Jigot Industrial Complex, one of the largest third-tier general industrial complexes, providing quality jobs.

All of this was possible because we have public officials with creative and innovative administrative mindsets who are pursuing active administration.

Going forward, do not be discouraged, and address city administration with confidence for citizen-centered administration.

For the lives of citizens to improve gradually, though slowly, please pursue policies of the people, by the people, and for the people.

2023 will be a very important and busy year.

This is because we must lay the groundwork for revitalizing the economy and implement many projects to correct misguided policies and ensure that the basics are properly established.

I would like to share with you the direction in which we will all move forward together this year and the major accomplishments we must achieve.

We will create a smart economic city where citizens prosper.

I will carefully monitor to ensure there is no inconvenience until the completion of the Segyo 2 District residential development, which will begin move-ins this year.

To resolve traffic congestion in the Gasan Industrial Complex and promote linked development with the underdeveloped northern region, I will do my best to open the Osan-Pyeongtaek Western Bypass Road by late June at the latest.

Furthermore, I will expedite administrative procedures so that the construction project of the Gyeongbu Railway Crossing Road connecting Segyo 2 District and Osan IC can get on track. With the move-in of Segyo 2 District and Nuyeup Industrial Complex, the Osan Station West Area transfer parking lot and connecting roads, where increased users are expected, will be completed as soon as possible, and I will complete the detailed design by December.

The Dongbu-daero Continuous Road project has been delayed for over ten years.

I will complete Stage 1 of the Dongbu-daero Continuous Road project, a long-standing wish of Osan citizens, by the end of this year, and will actively cooperate with LH on ways to shorten the construction period for the Stage 2 underground road project to enable early completion.

We will not overlook the development of the old downtown area and traffic-underserved areas.

To revitalize the commerce in the original downtown near Osan Station and increase visitors while promoting local economic recovery, we will operate a pilot Christmas Market program in the second half of the year. We will promote redevelopment and reconstruction projects to improve the residential environment in the old downtown area where deteriorated buildings are concentrated. To resolve the shortage of parking spaces in the Shin-Gwol-dong commercial district, we plan to begin parking lot expansion construction in the first half of the year.

We will increase buses to the Nuyeup Happiness Residences in the western development area during the first half of the year to eliminate inconvenience in using public transportation. We will pursue administrative procedures by the end of next year so that metropolitan bus service from Osan to Seoul Station can be newly established.

Through small and medium enterprise promotion and support policies, we will develop the Jigot Industrial Complex by going through the Gyeonggi Province site feasibility review in the first half of the year to lay the groundwork for future industries.

Additionally, we will complete the expansion of National Route 82 from Galcheon to Gasu early in March to alleviate the long-standing inconvenience of citizens. The preliminary feasibility study for the extension of the Bundang Line subway began in November and is being conducted. For the urban railway tram, we will complete design and business plan approval by the end of this year and will make full efforts to pursue administrative procedures to enable early construction.

Furthermore, through diverse and thorough examination, we will derive optimal plans for the Segyo 3 District redesignation, Unam Field development, and the Segyo Terminal site activation project.

We will create a multicultural city where citizens enjoy themselves.

During the first half of the year, we will complete a forest trail connecting the disconnected forest paths from Gapgol Mountain to Doksan Fortress, returning the urban forest to the bosom of citizens. We will also promote a project to install night lighting in 5 multi-family housing complexes to improve urban aesthetics and residential satisfaction.

We will not spare support for youth.

Starting last year, we began youth entrepreneurship support in the Hanshin University shopping district, and this year we will expand the sustainability of original downtown commerce by creating youth shops in the original downtown area. To revitalize commerce, we will actively support shop street development and youth shop startups in traditional markets through cooperation between related organizations. We will continuously expand and operate the Osaek Market cultural tourism program, including the night snack festival, to strengthen the self-reliance of traditional markets.

We will not neglect support for culture, arts, and sports.

Starting in March, we will regularly operate cultural performances at Dolmen Park, Malkeum-teo Park, and the Osan Station Transfer Center to activate local cultural arts organizations and expand citizens' opportunities to enjoy culture.

Furthermore, through hosting the National Living Sports Festival, we aim to contribute to improving the skills of enthusiasts and promoting health, thereby contributing to the revitalization of in-house living sports that have been sluggish due to COVID-19.

In the not-too-distant future, when residential, commercial, and advanced industrial facilities are built on Unam Field, it will transform into a self-sufficient multicultural city with entertainment, food, and leisure all harmoniously blended.

We will create a welfare and health city where citizens are happy.

To support the improvement of treatment for social welfare facility workers and improve the quality of social welfare services through enhanced expertise, starting this year we will provide health checkup costs to social workers. To address the low birth rate issue, we will provide childbirth incentives of 5 million won for the third child and 10 million won for the fourth child to families raising children, thereby promoting social interest in childbirth.

Starting this year, we will provide parental allowances of up to 700,000 won per month, differentiated by month of age, to reduce the economic burden of families raising children, and plan to expand this to 1 million won next year. We will support convergence education courses to cultivate creative future talent that actively responds to changes in the 4th industrial age.

We will not compromise citizen safety with anything.

To promote healthy growth through improved meal quality for daycare center children, we will provide eco-friendly meal support starting in March. To prevent safety accidents that may occur during drop-off and pick-up of infants, toddlers, and children in multi-family housing, we will begin installation of 15 pick-up shelters by 2025 in the first half of this year.

We will also establish and operate a center to support job-seeking skills for young people who face employment difficulties and support startups, thereby creating a social and economic environment where youth can grow.

We will thoroughly prepare for the construction of youth-only training facilities to ensure that young people can grow happily by surveying land for their establishment.

Furthermore, we will support postpartum care costs for families using postpartum care centers to alleviate economic burden and protect the lives and health of mothers and newborns to promote sound childbirth and childcare.

We will create a city of administrative exemplar where citizens feel at ease.

We will establish a convenient administrative system through revolutionary and proactive administration.

To create a stable academic environment and alleviate housing burden, starting this year we plan to support 70 university students from Osan to enter happiness dormitories. We will address citizen inconvenience through comprehensive revision of local ordinances that are deeply connected to citizens' lives but disconnected from reality, and improve administrative services by revising all ordinances by year-end.

To provide rapid civil petition administrative services due to population density and increased administrative demand, we will promote the separation of Daewon-dong and Sinjang-dong and open them next year. We will make full efforts in preparing for the construction of the Namchon-dong complex civic building, provide convenient and efficient one-stop civil petition services for citizens, and operate a fair administrative service evaluation system centered on citizens.

Furthermore, starting in the second half of the year, we will operate a speed-type integrated civil petition call center that handles diverse civil petitions from citizens in a one-stop manner to improve citizen satisfaction. We will improve the operation method of traffic signal control devices from on-site operation to online operation to periodically check and adjust signal coordination to facilitate smoother vehicle flow at intersections.

Esteemed 240,000 citizens of Osan!

This Chinese poem is one you may have heard before, and when I wake up early in the morning, I suddenly think of this poem.

When treading through snow and walking in the fields, <Treading snow, going through fields>

Be sure not to walk carelessly. <Do not walk haphazardly>

The footsteps I take this morning <The footsteps I walk today>

Will eventually become the path for those who come after. <Will eventually become the path for those who follow>

In a crisis unprecedented in human history that no one has experienced, I am constantly troubled by whether the path I am walking

can eventually become a guidepost that provides proper direction to future generations.

The local economy is gradually declining, showing no change from ten years ago and remaining stagnant. We face the worst traffic problems due to missing the opportune time for investment in social infrastructure, and systematic urban growth has become difficult as the opportune time for development has already passed due to shortsighted and reckless urban planning.

Additionally, due to administrative management failures, we are facing a financial crisis, and while attempting to restructure projects and reduce organizations, we have encountered obstacles, so the current reality is that we are facing comprehensively difficult circumstances.

If correcting these wrong situations and returning them to their proper state were not difficult, it would be a lie.

However, not wanting to miss the last opportunity for change and development, I intend to proceed on this path, however difficult and hard it may be.

This is because our future century ahead is far more precious than the lost past ten years.

Because I have the support of 240,000 Osan citizens who trust and support me, I will do my best until the end.

I will pursue citizen-centered policies with citizens as my compass, and the delegated citizen power you have given me will be used only for citizens.

With the attitude of "when the foundation is established, the way is generated," I will now correct policies that are excessively tilted to one side or awry, seek efficiency through consolidation and integration of functionally overlapping projects, and pursue balanced policies through appropriate harmony of public and private interests.

We will expand public contributions in development projects, prepare long-term and planned social infrastructure to support future urban growth, and also reorganize into efficient organizations in the long term to maintain an appropriate workforce scale commensurate with standard labor costs while making greater efforts to expand revenue.

We will allocate resources through selection and concentration so that the economy revives, achieve administrative innovation through lessons learned from administrative management failures, and concentrate all the capabilities I have so that balanced policies harmoniously permeate the lives of citizens.

Our Osan has the experience of wisely overcoming national crises through excellent crisis management and civic capacity, such as victories in the Battle of Doksan Fortress and the Battle of Jungmi-ryeong in the past.

With this embodied capacity, I believe we can certainly overcome the current crisis within mutual trust.

This will be achieved when all members of the community faithfully carry out their roles in their respective places with mutual trust.

I make another earnest plea to the city council.

Rather than focusing solely on criticism without alternatives, gather wisdom to develop alternatives with a sense of responsibility.

I will gladly accept criticism that provides alternatives or policy visions at any time.

I earnestly request that you demonstrate the integrated appearance of practicing collaborative governance that citizens desire.

Let us address conflicts constructively and honor the will of citizens committed to social integration. Together, let us move forward into the future.

Dear citizens!

And members of the public service!

The new year of the Year of the Rabbit is said to be the "Year of the Black Rabbit," symbolizing strength and wisdom, happiness and good fortune.

Like the rabbit leaping over obstacles with its powerful hind legs, I hope that all of you will powerfully leap over the difficulties you have faced and wisely overcome them, making this a happy year.

I sincerely wish health and good fortune to the families of all citizens.