Ādaži adds deputy mayor post while cutting pay and committee roles

Ādaži Municipality Council has created a third deputy mayor post, reduced the deputies’ salaries and abolished three committee leadership positions, LSM reported. The decisions were approved at an emergency meeting on Wednesday.

The amendments abolish the Development Committee chair and transfer its duties to the deputy council chair responsible for development. They also remove the deputy chair posts in the Development Committee and the Education, Culture, Sports and Social Committee. A new deputy council chair role responsible for governance will be created.

Council members agreed on the salary reductions, but the creation of a third deputy mayor post prompted heated debate. The monthly salaries of all three deputies will fall from 4,474 euros to 4,206 euros.

Opposition members of the Latvian Association of Regions said the new post would not add to the municipality’s budget, but questioned why Ādaži needed another full-time political leader. They argued that the planned duties overlap with those of the existing deputy council chair and the executive director.

The new deputy is set to oversee the efficiency and structure of the municipal administration, coordinate cooperation between institutions, and supervise e-governance, information technology, public participation and the implementation of council decisions.

The Latvian Association of Regions said the role was intended for council member Imants Krastiņš. Krastiņš partly confirmed this at the meeting, saying he leads a working group on reorganisation and that the post would allow him to work with employees legally, agree on changes and improve efficiency.

Krastiņš said the role should help accelerate the reorganisation and deliver greater savings in the 2027 budget. Its results are to be assessed after a year.