The mayor's been leading her on

Ever since she came back home to Constanta, Simona Amânar has been making phone calls and lobbying in front of the mayor’s office, trying to solve a problem that even she doesn’t understand. Although Constanta mayor Radu Mazăre made public promises he will give her a three-room apartment, the gymnast only received a rented two-room apartment with a lease that ends in 2004.

Everything started when the Romanian Olympic team was on the plane coming back from Sydney, and swimmer Camelia Potec nudged Simona to show her an article in which Mazăre said he wants to reward all gold and silver medallists from the Olympics [from Constanta] by giving them an apartment. “I was happy, but I could hardly believe it was true. Now, I just can’t understand why some people make promises they don’t intend to keep,” explained Simona.

It’s been more than 10 days since Simona has been trying to figure out what the contract signed in her name would mean. “I keep going around and calling people, but nobody can explain how I ended up having to pay the lease for an apartment for no apparent reason, instead of getting one that would be mine.” County Youth and Sports Department director, Elena Frîncu said that “the problem started with the people from Urban Development who didn’t know about the mayor’s promise.” Vice-mayor Aurel Butnaru insists there is no way the office he works for could offer houses as gifts. “Right now, we’re trying to make some legal arrangements so that she could own the apartment she lives in. We’ll arrange all the details in the next Council meeting.” Asked why the mayor didn’t try and take care of all the legalities before handing Simona the keys to her apartment, the vice mayor concluded “There have been some misunderstandings. I don’t know what they were about.”

Simona Amânar has been trying to find the mayor for over a week. As soon as got home at the beginning of the month, Simona received the three-year housing contract for an apartment in central Constanta, instead of the free apartment she was promised. She went to the mayor’s office along with Elena Frîncu, determined to find out what happened to the apartment she was promised. “Two minutes. That’s how long I stayed with Radu Mazăre. I didn’t even get to tell him what I wanted. Then, they sent me to the vice-mayor who told me he’s new around here and he can’t tell me exactly what’s going on with my apartment." She remembers that two days later when she tried to find the mayor, his secretary told her to come back in one week. She’s been unable to get a definite answer ever since. Radu Mazăre was either in a meeting, or out of the office. "At one point, his secretary even yelled at me ‘What, didn’t you see him already?!’ " Yesterday morning, Simona caught up with the mayor for another two minutes. "He told me everything will be taken care of in two weeks. I’m not really upset about the house, but at the way they keep leading me on. It would have been better if they just gave me a diploma or a certificate. It would have been more honest," concluded Simona.

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