Kalush mayor visits Little Rock as part of community partnerships program (12/06/98)

Kalush mayor visits Little Rock as part of community partnerships program

by Olenka Dobczanska

WASHINGTON - Stepan Riznyk, the mayor of Kalush, Ukraine, visited Little Rock, Ark., on September 2-9, to meet with individuals involved with the Kalush-Little Rock Community Partnership, part of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation's three-year USAID funded Community Partnerships Program (CPP).

Mayor Riznyk was part of a delegation that was headed by Volodymyr Oliynyk, mayor of Cherkasy and included Stepan Kleban, liaison with local governments for the Office of the President of Ukraine, and Anatolii Oliinyk, mayor of Mykolaiv.

The delegations visit was funded by the United States Information Agency's (USIA) International Visitor Program on Local Government in the United States: A Single Country Project for Ukraine. The program's aims are to stimulate municipal reform, improve administrative capacity and efficient delivery of services in Ukraine.

As part of their program, the delegation visited a number of U.S. cities including Washington, Arlington, Va., Des Moines, Iowa; Toledo, Ohio, Atlanta and New York City.

Traveling to Little Rock Mayor Riznyk was the first Ukrainian in the Community Partnership Program to visit his American partner-city.

The warm reception and productive discussions in Little Rock illustrate the cooperation and working relationships between local government practitioners in Ukraine and the U.S. that the CPP hopes to encourage. Mayor Riznyk's drive and charisma promoted one Little Rock resident to comment that if the mayor spoke English, he would be a formidable candidate for office in Arkansas.

Little Rock Mayor James Dailey named Mayor Riznyk an honorary citizen and gave him the keys to the city. Mr. Riznyk also met with Arkansas Congressman Vic Snyder, a member of the House Committee on National Security, who recently returned from a trip to Ukraine where he had inspected former missile sites.

During ceremonies marking the beginning of a new school year at Philander Smith College, Mr. Riznyk was introduced to the audience and joined the faculty and administration in the academic procession.

Mayor Riznyk spoke with individuals scheduled to go to Kalush as part of a CPP needs-assessment team. "The mayor laid a good foundation for the upcoming visit from Little Rock by describing the city government in detail and helping us develop a work plan for our trip," said Walter Nunn, director of Arkansas International Center. "He is obviously a hard worker and was relentless in his pursuit of information about how Little Rock city government works," he added.

Mr. Riznyk visited various city government facilities, including the Port Authority on the Mississippi River. Having worked in Kalush's equivalent of a public works department prior to becoming mayor, Mr. Riznyk was especially interested in Little Rock's Public Works. Assistant Director of Public Works Guy Lowes escorted the mayor on a tour of the facility.

At the Operations Division the Kalush mayor observed Little Rock's methods of street maintenance, including asphalt production, overlay and street sweeping. The mayor was impressed with the scheduling of work and the efficiency of tracking, inspecting and measuring work within the department. He noted that many more miles of roads are maintained in the U.S. with far fewer workers. At the sanitary landfill in Little Rock he noted that liners and methods of composting material are things sadly lacking in Ukraine.

Mr. Riznyk, who impressed people with his frank questions and forthright manner, extended his stay in order to meet with representatives of NGOs and private companies in Little Rock that are active in international business. Officials in Little Rock managed to find a Ukrainian family, Ihor and Marta Pohribni, recently of Ivano-Frankivsk, at whose home the mayor spent several nights.

For information about the CPP contact the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation at 1511 K St., NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20005; telephone, (202) 347-4264, fax, (202) 347-4267; e-mail, [email protected]; website, http://www.usukraine.org/cpp/.

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