SHOW ME THE MONEY:Borough wardens took aim at Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, saying the funds granted to them by the city for special events are limited

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 07, 2016
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

The Taipei City Government should issue more public funds to help cover the cost of community events, several borough wardens said yesterday in response to Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) suggestion that they hold more activities to help mentally unstable or reclusive residents fit into society.

“I have a lot of ideas and I am willing to cooperate with the mayor, but where does the money come from?” Zhengshou Borough (正守) Warden Lin Ju-hsuan (林洳萱) said.

Lin said that the funds granted to her borough are limited to the “basics,” and that she sometimes has to use her own money to cover some of the costs of community trips she organizes.

Lin said that larger events that require stages and sound equipment to be set up can cost tens of thousands of New Taiwan dollars.

The Daan District (大安) Office’s Civil Affairs Division said the city government allocates NT$60,000 (US$1,849.45) each year for wardens to hold events, in addition to a NT$300,000 “borough and community development fund” which wardens can use to hold special events on holidays, such as on Mother’s Day and the Double Ninth Festival.     [FULL  STORY]