Üsküdar University Faculty of Health Sciences' Department of Social Services organized an event on the topic of "Local Governments and Social Services." The guest of the event was Ahmet Kurt, Amasya Provincial Director of the Ministry of Family, Labor, and Social Services. Kurt stated that municipal administration has recently evolved into social municipal administration, adding that mayoral candidates who list titles like social worker, psychologist, guidance counselor, or similar instead of architect, engineer, or lawyer under their names will be more in demand.
"Municipal administration has evolved into social services municipal administration"
In the event moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. İsmail Barış, a faculty member at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ahmet Kurt spoke about social municipal administration and the professions he believes will contribute to elections; "Social municipal administration is actually its raison d'être. Recently, municipal administration has evolved into social municipal administration; that is, we have moved from a municipality focused on water, sewage, and cleaning to this point. It is a practice that strengthens democratic structures and the reason for the existence of this type of municipal administration. In our era, and I assume in your time as well, focusing on physical works was more prevalent in municipal administration. When you went up to the podium to ask for new votes, you couldn't really say things like, 'I reconciled this many families, I distributed packages to the poor.' You couldn't talk much about these. What could you talk about? 'I bought this many construction machines for the municipality, I built such a building, we laid this much asphalt.' But where we are now, municipal administration has evolved into social services municipal administration. I hope that from now on, aspiring mayoral candidates will not write architect, engineer, or lawyer under their names. Writing social worker, psychologist, guidance counselor, or similar titles will be more in demand. I believe this will contribute to their election, and especially after the pandemic, there will be more interest in these professions."
"Social entrepreneurship gives rise to social municipal administration"
Kurt stated that social touches are very, very important; "Social entrepreneurship does not aim for profit. Social entrepreneurship gives rise to social municipal administration. These are generally activities aimed at ensuring social peace, tranquility, and a safe environment. That is what I am primarily trying to explain. Right now, when I go out in Tonya, I am respected as 'Ahmet Kurt, you are the man who ensures peace here.' Ensuring peace and tranquility can never be compared to the asphalt you lay deteriorating completely and disappearing after five or ten years. That is why social touches are much, much more important. Social touches aimed at women, youth, disabled individuals, and the poor; touches that will make their lives comfortable; touches aimed at vocational training; and awareness-raising activities are indispensable components of social municipal administration. Protecting disadvantaged segments is primarily the duty of local governments. It aims to ensure social justice and social balance and plays a crucial role in establishing a social welfare state. It is the first step, and we believe it is essential that it starts with local governments."
"You need to have a good team"
Emphasizing the necessity of a good team for successful municipal administration, Kurt said; "The path to successful municipal administration generally goes through resources. That is, it's very important for a mayor to be smart, but if they don't have money, being very smart is also of no use. Therefore, if there are insufficient resources, you will struggle to implement social municipal administration. Of course, sensitivity is also necessary. One needs to be sensitive. And of course, you need to have a good team. I'm not saying the team necessarily has to consist of social workers; there's also this aspect. Some of our social service specialists or social worker colleagues only boast and are arrogant by saying 'I am a social service specialist,' but they do nothing beyond that. If a social service specialist does nothing, just boasting with their business card is a disgrace, and I advise my friends on this. Instead of doing that, they should read and develop themselves. Of course, when I say a good team, I'm not just talking about social services. I'm referring to a team that has social sensitivity, makes this its business, and truly cares. If these are present, we can say that the path to social municipal administration is open. I believe that 50% of municipal administration is about winning hearts, which is social municipal administration, and the remaining 50% is about physical determinants."