Brno-Stred District Council has removed ODS’s Otakar Bradáč from his position as chairman of the Housing, Property, and Allocation Commission. Photo credit: KK/Brno Daily
Brno, Oct. 10 (BD) – Last week, the second suspect in the case of corruption related to the allocation of municipal flats in Brno-Stred, Civic Democrat (ODS) official Otakar Bradac, was remanded in custody. Today, Brno-Stred District Council decided to remove Bradáč from his position as chairman of the Housing, Property, and Allocation Commission.
The council has also tasked the Internal Audit and Control Department to carry out an operationally classified audit of the process of allocation of flats in the district, and the criteria and method of selection of applicants for renting flats, as well as the identification and reduction of risks in the process.
Furthermore, the council instructed the secretary of the district office to request further information from police investigators, including information on which members of local government bodies or council employees are under investigation, whether the Brno-střed District is listed as a victim in the ongoing criminal proceedings, and whether the conduct of the accused has damaged the Municipal District.
“It is absolutely clear that this is a very serious offence to which we will respond adequately and draw consequences, either by systemic changes in the allocation of flats or by strengthening monitoring of the process,” said the Mayor of Brno-střed, Vojtěch Mencl (ODS).
According to the district, the work of the Housing Department and the preparation of documents on individual applicants for decisions by the Housing Commission are continuously monitored. In December last year, Brno City Hall’s Housing Department carried out an inspection of council procedures, focusing on the registration of applicants for flats and the rental of ordinary municipal flats. No issues were identified during the inspection, and the auditors stated in the inspection report that the Brno-střed District was following the rules for renting flats and the criteria and methods of selecting applicants.
In addition, random checks on the evaluation of applications for apartments are carried out by the Internal Audit and Control Department. The last inspection took place in September this year, and no major deficiencies were found during that inspection either.
Nonetheless, Monika Lukasova Spilkova, head of the Brno-Stred Town Hall control committee, said she has highlighted discrepancies in the allocation of flats, as well as suspicious flat swaps and renting, for a long time. Flats were allocated, for example, to the family members and friends of politicians, who jumped the queue ahead of long-waiting applicants, she said.