New Municipal Financial Sector.
The creation of
a local authority controlled financial sector
is a crucial step for the transition to the new municipal administration
model not only because of its importance in terms of municipality’s economics,
but also because the establishment of self-managed productive units constitute
the foundations of production redevelopment of the local community. A local
authority financial sector will contain new collective forms of ownership that
would ensure control of a local production system, by initially providing
financial incentives to local producers, shops and citizens, in order to
encourage them “produce-sell-buy” locally produced products, aiming to break
the chains of large production and distribution companies. This could be achieved as presented below.
Municipal Social Enterprises Network.
It is a network of productive units which belong to municipality and they are operated by their workers, while technical management (marketing, design, etc.) could be entrusted to specialized staff. The overall control of such municipal companies must belong to the municipal assemblies, which will oversee the production and employment policies, ensuring that they serve the general public interest. An important step towards this direction will be the production flow of municipal enterprises to be dedicated exclusively to the needs of local market, such as the needs of social groceries, fish shops, dispensaries, public transport, waste management etc. The aim of this process is to gradually shift more and more resources from the free market economy to new municipal financial sector, which will form the basis for the reestablishment of social welfare state that will protect effectively the high-risk poverty groups in order to live a decent life.
Municipal Social Franchise Network.
A chain of social shops in selected commercial sectors which have comparative advantages regarding the survival into financial crisis. Namely companies with "brand names" which belong to municipalities but their operation is undertaken by their citizens, through a fair selection procedure. The franchise social network would enable municipalities to participate with higher proportion in local markets by imposing more easily the rules that develop the prices of services and products. Simultaneously, the municipality will achieve a drastic reduction of unemployment rates in the city contributing positively to the war against unemployment.