Municipal policy | The mayor was accused of shouting, ended up barking at the council in Lohja

Lohjan mayor Jarkko Härmälä gave an extraordinary speech at the city council meeting on September 14.

The speech was reprimanding and sometimes curt, but its message is clear: Härmälä wants to dictate how Lohja’s bad atmosphere is handled.

The spark for the speech was given in Länsi-Uusimaa magazine September 9 published editor Jukka Nurmilakson column. In it, the journalist said that he got the impression from several background conversations with city employees that problems are solved by the city management by shouting and even threatening.

Some of the staff said they were afraid. Moni had told the reporter that the current spending cannot continue. According to the newspaper, the atmosphere is tense, especially at the town hall.

At the same time, another article was also published in the magazine, in which Härmälä was able to share his own point of view. In the story, Härmälä said that he leads by discussing and being open.

In his speech to the city council, Härmälä described the text of the Länsi-Uusimaa newspaper as “blasphemy” and its content as attacking and accusing.

In his speech Härmälä instructed the councilors on how matters should be handled in the municipality.

The reason for this was, among other things, a confidential meeting organized by the city government’s personnel department at the end of August.

The meeting was called by the chairman of the personnel department Pirjo-Leena Forsström (sd), and in addition to Forsström, the city’s personnel representatives, labor protection and trustees participated in it.

The employer was not invited, Härmälä pointed out in his speech.

“From the meeting [jälkikäteen] according to the information received, the issue of management and work atmosphere had come from the proposal of the chairman of the personnel department, not from the personnel representatives of the city organization,” he said in his speech.

“This confidential meeting was organized before the official city council meeting.”

Härmälä clarifies to HS that he would have liked to bring the issues raised in the informal meeting to the city board meeting as well. He did not comment on whether he would have wanted to participate in the informal meeting.

Härmälä said in his speech that the bad atmosphere had not been discussed according to the common rules of the game. In his speech, he reminded, among other things, which tasks belong to whom in the city. For example, according to him, the city’s communication belongs to the “city management and supervisors”.

“Employees are free to comment on their activities [medialle]but the operation of the divisions and the operation of the administration are different,” Härmälä specifies to Helsingin Sanomat.

He adds that the issue is outlined in the city’s communication guidelines.

Nuhtelu’s speech to the Härmälä city council changed when he concluded his speech by summarizing how to proceed with both problems:

“In terms of the city’s reputation as an employer, the comfort of employees and the reputation of the mayor, this kind of practice is not building a good reputation as an employer, but the opposite.”

According to him, this reputation is built by the city’s employees, officials, personnel representatives and councilors.

“The council and political groups have a great responsibility to ensure that each division has trustees attached to the core mission of the division, who have the best experience and competence – not just theory and research knowledge – in order to create trust, encouragement and a positive organizational culture.”

From what felt like listening to the barks of the mayor, chair of the personnel department Pirjo-Leena Forsström?

“The mayor has the right to say what he says. It doesn’t affect me.”

Otherwise, Forsström does not comment on the events.

Härmälä started as a municipal manager in June. He says that he started in a situation where job satisfaction is low and sick leave is increasing.

“When I was recruited, it was clear that Lohja needed to get the translation done.”

Härmälä has not received negative feedback about his speech at the city council meeting.

“I’ve been told that it’s good to deal with things and talk directly.”