According to the report of the Supreme Audit Office, the officials of Myslenice, which is located near Krakow, evaluated the applications of the fund, which their head sits on the throne. In less than three years, the organization received tens of thousands of zlotys of city subsidies. There is also a political element in this case and a coup before the elections.
The Supreme Audit Office audited how the municipality of Michelin managed state funds for non-governmental organizations in 2021-2024. Auditors examined how officials give grants to NGOs, who decides on support and who receives it.
In one case, whoever called was close to the caller. The report prepared after the audit of the Supreme Audit Office shows that one organization – the Owocna Foundation, which has existed since 2021, has collected more than 40,000 PLN for a number of projects in 2021-2023.
On Wednesday, November 13, we sent a question to the municipality of Michlenice about the financial support this foundation has received in recent years, but we did not receive an answer. Information from “Wyborcza” from the spring of this year shows that since the beginning of its activity, the Owokna Foundation has received only PLN 67,000 from the office, of which PLN 36,500 in 2023. received about 42,000 PLN and 11,500 PLN as part of local initiatives.
“The Commune has not made a decision that prohibits the submission of applications by organizations whose boards include employees of the apparatus,” the auditors emphasized.
Effective cooperation between the fund and the commune
There are two people on the board of the Owocna fund. This is Barbara Bilica, who in recent years was the head of the advertising department at the Municipal and Municipal Office of Michelina, and Malgorzata Miscak, who was the Deputy Director of Culture and Sports of Michelina for a few months on the threshold of 2023 and 2024. Center.
Since 2018, Micheline has been managed by former lawyer and judge Yaroslav Slachetka. He was supported by others in this campaign. Former Prime Minister Beata Shidlo. However, above all, he was the man of Daniel Obaitek, who crossed paths with him in the place where he politically formed the future president of Orlen, and today a PiS member of the MEDM. In Pcim, Obaitek became the mayor and then made Slachetka his deputy. Previously, politicians started in the Pcim commune council. Both of them come from Myślenice.
When they stopped working together, Jarosław Slachetka was twice in the regional council and once in the Sejm, and then became the frontman of PiS in Michlenice. Barbara Bilika, a social activist with no political background, became the head of the Department of Publicity, Cooperation and Sports in his administration.
In April 2021, Bylica and Miszczak founded the Ovokna Foundation, which the mayor willingly supported for almost three years. Owocna, using the funds of the city, including: two concerts dedicated to Pope John Paul II (however, the main funding burden fell on the marshal's office), a film promoting Michelin, an integration dinner for the locals, a trip to interesting places commune and competition for schools. In one word: Owocna among others, promote the region.
In most cases, it looked like this: the foundation submitted a request for funding to the office, the officials evaluated them, the mayor approved them, and the funds for a specific project went to the organization.
Finally, there was an award given by Slačetka in 2023 to the foundation for “engagement in active support of various forms of art and creation through the organization of numerous cultural events” in the amount of PLN 5,000.
Town and Municipal Office of Michlenice Bartlomy Plevnia, tvn24.pl
However, NIK auditors found that the committee that examined and evaluated the foundation's applications included employees who report to Barbara Bailica. Head of advertising department and co-founder of the fund. The Supreme Control Authority determined that in the case of some of the proposed projects, the provisions of the Code of Administrative Procedure related to the Law “Activity of public interest” were violated.
In the application after the inspection of the Department of Higher Accountability Control, which was sent to the mayor of Slachetka, we read that “the employees were dependent on the head of this office, therefore, in order to maintain impartiality, they should be excluded from the assessment.”
“NIK draws attention to the fact that the employees of the department are dependent on the head of this department, therefore, solving issues related to their immediate supervisor may affect the rights and obligations of the employee.”
These are serious violations reported by the Supreme Control Office. But the auditors also revealed that “the office did not check the execution of the public order.” This means that there was no formal verification of whether the projects for which city funds were allocated were actually 100 percent implemented or not.
The commune implements the recommendation of the Office of Higher Control
The mayor of Michlenice denies the accusations of the Supreme Audit Office and claims that he has nothing to blame. We spoke to a local government official on Friday, November 15 – the same day Szlachetka's official X platform account posted a message about “media leaks” allegedly “inspired” by local opposition. In this context, the politician – before publishing the article – stated that “we observe the efforts of the opposition to manipulate and seek sensation.”
Referring to the detected violations, the mayor assured in an interview with tvn24.pl: “We will do everything so that such cases do not occur in the coming years.”
– The manager removed himself from the evaluation of requests for the Foundation. Despite the revealed cases, the supreme control body clearly stated that the calculation of the allowances given by the executive committee was carried out correctly and in accordance with the law. According to the conclusion of the chamber, we have introduced certain mechanisms to avoid such mistakes in the future, said the mayor.
What are these mechanisms? – Among other things, the points of the declaration about the impartiality of the committee members were clarified. We have made clear our expectations for the recruitment department to choose: either work in an office or work in an NGO, and make a clear distinction between the two.
Changes in declarations of impartiality signed by members of competition commissions is one of NIK's requests to the mayor of Mišlenica. The auditors determined that the format should be changed so that people in high positions do not evaluate the projects of organizations that they manage outside of their work in the office.
“I don't feel guilty.” But the mayor blames
In an interview with us, the co-founder of the Owocna foundation – like the mayor – has no complaints. – Not only the employees of the application evaluation department sit in the commission. They were also deputy mayors, members of non-governmental organizations and advisers. The composition of this commission has changed, the former chief said.
– I don't feel guilty. In the end, the mayor decided who got the money. I removed myself from the proceedings when the Owocna Foundation filed a motion. When the projects of our foundation did not exist, I took part in them, emphasized Barbara Bailyka. He added that not every foundational project received financial support from the commune.
– These violations concern the morals of individual employees, especially those who no longer work for us. This is primarily a question for these people – added Jarosław Slachetka, referring to whether he has anything to complain about. He also stated that the comments of the Supreme Audit Office refer to areas that “require standard improvement”, which he said is “a natural element of the work of any government agency”.
A knife in the back of the mayor
Although the defensive line is the same, there is now a gap between Bylika and Slachetka. The chief no longer works in the office of Myslenice, but not because of any violation. Before the local elections in 2024, the social activist made a U-turn and turned against his boss and ran from his own committee KWW Owocnie dla Gminy. Mugworth lost the election. Now he is the communist secretary of Raciehovice near Myslenice. The non-partisan Robert Jurek won the election there, defeating the current mayor Vaslav Zarski from PiS.
Of course, Szlachetka did not like the candidacy of the director. “When at the end of the last one of your closest colleagues, whom you trusted, created a general opinion about the development of Myslenice, with whom you had been working in the same team for years. , you are only sorry ” – he wrote about Bylica in April of this year.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the mayor is now trying to put all the responsibility for the revealed violations on the shoulders of the foundation. – The questions should first of all be focused on the Owocna foundation, although I cannot imagine today that this foundation was established only in view of the local government elections, – the mayor told us. – In our five-year cooperation with the boss, I expected professionalism. During this period, I met with the adoption of practical activities. Moreover, the former leader considers this behavior a betrayal of his work, – added the PiS politician.
– It is difficult to agree with the fact that the projects we supported served the residents, – noted Yaroslav Slachetka. The auditors of the Department of Supreme Control did not say anything about the cost of the projects.
PiS does not want any more papal concerts
– The foundation had absolutely no political basis, – defends Barbara Bilika. – Owocna has been operating since 2021, and at that time politics was not at all in our minds. But the name of the committee did not differ from the name of the fund, because we wanted to convey something good, true and Polish to the whole commune. Politics was not and is not our goal, we are not a political party. We have been socially active for more than 10 years, and in 2021 we created a foundation for the professional purpose of our activity, – emphasized the former head of the advertising department at Michelin.
In 2024, the Ovokna Foundation did not apply for funding to the Myślenice commune, although it intends to do so in the future. However, he approached the Malopolska authorities (from PiS) with requests for funds for the next papal concert as part of two calls for the sponsorship of Malopolska 2024. – Unfortunately, they ignored it, we did not receive any support. I do not exclude that it was a political decision. And the concert is a beautiful initiative that the residents liked. However, we will not give up, we will seek funds from businessmen, said Baylika.
Watchdog Polska: a clear conflict of interest
Putting aside the political distance of this case, the auditors' notes and conditions are the result of a specific attitude of Michelin officials. According to Katarzyna Batko-Toluch, vice president and director of programs of Citizens' Network Watchdog Polska, “the problem of subsidization by entities in conflict of interest is unfortunately a very common problem in Poland and the result of our low standards.”
– In the case of the establishment of Owocna, original sin is also a common phenomenon, that is, being both an official and a social activist. This, of course, is the implementation of the basic freedom of associations, but then you have to accept the consequences and do not turn to the office for money, especially if the decisions are made by subordinates, explained the expert.
Batko-Toluch also noted that “the money was not that big and it was probably spent for the common good.” – But this is not an excuse for an office where the statement of impartiality in evaluation is a myth. And this is because there is no reflection and work on the morale of the employees. By the way, the damage done here is the loss of people's trust. Both residents and office workers see that nothing happens in a situation of obvious conflict of interest. These behaviors are repeated and therefore no one believes in the honesty of the authorities, public trust is low. And low trust is a real social damage – explained the vice president of Watchdog Polska.
We asked if the commune of Rasiechovice, where Barbara Bilica currently works, received any requests from the Ovokna Foundation this year, or if the organization received any grants. Katarzyna Magdziarz, the head of the social relations department of Raciehovice, informed us that no.
Main photo source: Bartłomiej Plewnia, tvn24.pl, NIK
