Mayor's remarks
1. Precautionary action for dengue fever after Typhoon Hato
According an announcement from the Center for Disease Control (CDC Taiwan) of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, by August 20 there were 189 imported cases and 3 domestic cases across Taiwan, including 11 imported cases in Tainan. This suggests that there is risk of a dengue fever epidemic. By the end of August, no domestic cases were reported in Tainan. Although we survived the severe spread of dengue fever in July and August two years ago, the dengue fever season is September to November. All departments and bureaus should bear this in mind. As over half of all cases contract the disease at home, related units including the Public Health Bureau, Environmental Protection Bureau, Bureau of Civil Affairs, and district offices, should reinforce the awareness education of dengue fever.
2. Completion of library spatial improvement in Liuying District and Zuojhen District for a scholarly city
Tainan City is Taiwan’s first city and has traditionally been the country’s cultural capital. Therefore, we also hope to build it in to a scholarly city. This is a collaborative task of the Bureau of Education and the Cultural Affairs Bureau. The Bureau of Education has completed the library spatial optimization of nearly 200 elementary and junior high schools, and the Cultural Affairs Bureau has implemented the revitalization and renewal of old libraries in 37 districts. The library spatial arrangement and optimization in Liuying District and Zuojhen District has recently been completed one after another. After the spatial optimization, revitalization, and renewal, these libraries are now well-lit to provide a warm and comfortable reading environment for citizens to feel pleasant to visit libraries and to improve the reading habit in the districts. New libraries built by the Cultural Affairs Bureau included Yuwen Library in East District, Tucheng Library in Annan District, and Yancheng Library in South District. All have been completed and opened to the public. The revitalization of the first (old) main public library has been completed, and the construction of the new main public library in Yongkang has started. The National Central Library Southern Branch will be built in Sinying. Complete library facilities will be completed in Tainan in the future. Before the county-city merger, the annual average book expense per person was NT$6. Now it has increased to NT$24. Currently, Tainan City libraries have rich collections of books, with a per person average of 4.15 volumes for lending, the second highest in Taiwan just under Taipei City’s 4.56 volumes per person. I am grateful to the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Bureau of Education, all district offices, and the employees of all city libraries for their incessant efforts to promote reading in order to progressively achieve the goal of a scholarly city.
3. Completion of grid connection of the photovoltaic facilities at Chengsi Landfill
Thanks to the concerted effort of the Bureau of Economic Development and the Environmental Protection Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Development has approved over 3,000 applications for photovoltaic (PV) system installation, the highest in Taiwan, through the aggressive promotion of solar power in recent years. Currently, the output capacity of these PV systems exceeds the generation capacity of one Zengwen Reservoir. It is expected that the capacity will increase to that of two Zengwen Reservoirs next year, which is an excellent performance. This will need the big support of all departments and bureaus, such as the farms and farmland of the Agricultural Bureau, the detention basins and sewage treatment plants of the Water Resources Bureau, and the landfills of the Environmental Protection Bureau. This way, Tainan City can progressively achieve its goal of becoming a low carbon city. Currently, we generate electricity on leased and contributed land and sell electricity to Taiwan Power Company. The Bureau of Economic Development should set the target of solar power in all households. If each household, community, and company could general solar power, the road to a nuclear-free homeland will not be so long.
Reports
1. Report on “Administration Simplification and Service Quality Optimization” by the Finance and Local Tax Bureau (please refer to written sources for details)
Resolution: Approved for reference filing
Mayor's remarks:
(1) One year into their merger, the Local Tax Bureau and Department of Finance have been combined into the Finance and Local Tax Bureau. Instead of delaying the business of individual agencies before the merger, all types of business of each agency have been optimized. Apart from simplifying the organization, the merger can innovate various measures to provide citizens with more convenience and quality services.
(2) After the merger, the Finance and Local Tax Bureau has achieved the “administration simplification” and “convenient citizen services” goals. When citizens needed to settle tax affairs, it was difficult for them to distinguish national tax from local tax. In addition, citizens living in remote areas needed to travel a long way. By promoting cross-agency cooperation, the Finance and Local Tax Bureau set up cross-district and multifunctional tax affairs counters in local land offices, motor vehicles service stations offices, and district offices to offer joint national tax and local tax services. The Finance and Local Tax Bureau also collaborates with Kaohsiung City to provide a wide variety of services. In addition, the simplification of various administration processes helps citizens save time and cost, provides more convenient citizen services and enhances their satisfaction with tax administration. I hope that the Finance and Local Tax Bureau can continue its efforts to provide such services.
(3) The aim of this organizational merger or reengineering is to strengthen organizational functions, enhance effectiveness, and reduce cost. We must start with small things and think from the angle of citizens in order to proactively discover and resolve problems. The recommendations made by Director-general Chang lastly aim to simplify administration to provide convenient citizen services and optimize service quality. They can be the reference of workforce streamlining and administrative efficiency enhancement of all departments and bureaus.
(4) With regards to how to standardize office procurement, such as car rental and paper and stationery procurement, the secretary-general should discuss it with related departments and bureaus, including the Finance and Local Tax Bureau, Department of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, and Secretariat in a meeting. Regarding “Administration Simplification and Workforce Streamlining”, Deputy Mayor Wu should form an “Administration Simplification and Workforce Streamlining” task force at the city government level and the secretary-general should provide relevant assistance. Members of the task force should include the Finance and Local Tax Bureau, Department of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Department of Personnel, Department of Civil Service Ethics, and the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission. The heads of all departments and bureaus should be invited to discuss how to streamline the municipal workforce. Each department or bureau should also form an “Administration Simplification and Workforce Streamlining” task force convened by their heads to inventory and discuss human resources based on the practice of the Finance and Local Tax Bureau in order to streamline the workforce.
Reports
2. Report on “Elegant Capital of Tainan: Cityscape Improvement Plan” by the Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission (please refer to written sources for details)
Resolution: Approved for reference filing
Mayor's remarks:
(1) Cityscape represents the lifestyle of a city. It is the starting point for external visitors to explore the city and shapes outsiders’ first impression of the entire city. In 2012, we launched the “Elegant Capital of Tainan: Cityscape Improvement Plan” to turn Tainan into a happy and livable city through small things and with a larger view in mind. Apart from long-term considerations, we aim to optimize everything progressively.
(2) We listen to the voices of citizens and maintain continuous communication with them in order to turn Tainan into an elegant city through a cityscape renaissance. Over the past five years, there have been 15 projects and 41 work items co-promoted by all departments and bureaus including the Public Works Bureau, Civil Affairs Bureau, Education Bureau, Urban Development Bureau, Transportation Bureau, Environmental Protection Bureau, Cultural Affairs Bureau, Police Department, and district offices. Thanks to the concerted efforts of these departments and bureaus and the cooperation from citizens, from the presentation I can see the fruitful results of cityscape beautification and city space reengineering through the concerted efforts of all participants.
(3) Through the annual rolling view review, we included three sub-plans: “Temple Activities Optimization Plan”, “Historic District Revitalization Plan”, and “Urban Renewal, Renovation, and Maintenance Plan” in 2017. By optimizing temple activities through various responsive measures, we hope to maintain a balance between traditional culture and citizens’ quality of life. Urban renewal aims to reshape the spatial landscape and quality of life to inject a new power into Tainan’s old cityscape. Through our revitalization program executed in a bottom-up and public-private partnership fashion, we hope that these historic districts with Tainan characteristics may be re-engineered to achieve a cityscape renaissance.
(4) Tainan has a long history and a deep cultural legacy. From lanes and alleys, old houses, and historic monuments to lifestyle, a unique city brand and city image was built. However, cityscape, townscape beautification, and overall image improvement require attentive maintenance and incessant improvement. More importantly, as concerted determination and efforts can only achieve a tiny part of township renaissance, all departments and bureaus must strictly follow the schedule of all projects and work in collaboration and with persistence to let Tainan continue to shine.