Matúš Vallo

Matúš Vallo was the first candidate to run for Bratislava mayor in the 2018 municipal elections.[5] Vallo ran for the post as an independent, but with the help and strong support of non-parliamentary political parties Progressive Slovakia and TOGETHER – Civic Democracy[6] backed by a group of experts called Team Vallo who have previously worked on project to improve the quality of life in Bratislava which resulted in a book, Plán Bratislava having been published.[7]

Vallo’s main rivals were Václav Mika, the former director of RTVS, the public broadcaster, and the then-mayor Ivo Nesrovnal.[8]. During the campaign, Vallo vowed to improve the way the city administration communicates with citizens, make processes more transparent and engage more with the residents.[9][10]. Vallo criticised then-mayor Nesrovnal for his inability to come to agreement with the members of the city council, leading to the deadlock in implementing the new parking policy, stagnating improvement of the cycling infrastructure and other issues.[11][12][13] He promised that if elected, he would improve co-operation between the magistrate, the city council and local administrations.

Vallo was officially sworn in as the Bratislava mayor on 7 December 2018.[1]

One of the first[14] policies Vallo started to work on was the parking policy delays with the implementation of which he has previously criticised[11] his predecessor for. His aim was decide on the framework the city borough and the city council will build upon, in the first half of 2019[15] Unlike Nesrovnal, Vallo expressed the opinion the rules should be uniform across the city, with a single company managing it. The original proposal[16] included residential parking zones in locations decided by the city boroughs. The yearly parking card for permanent residents would cost €49 for the first car, €150 for the second car and €500 for the third car. Without a parking card, hourly parking fees would incur in said zones. Bratislava would be divided in up to four zones with parking fees from €0.50/h to €2/h depending on the location. The parking card would be accepted only in the city borough the owner is a resident, but they would have up to 2 hours daily for visits outside of that city borough. Special rates would be payable by companies seated in Bratislava.

The proposal caused[17] some backlash, after which some changes were made.

Under Vallo, the review of planning permission became stricter, with more projects being rejected for ignoring requirements or trying to work them around[18][19].