QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT

GEORGIA COMMUNITIES EMPOWERED FOR LOCAL DECISION-MAKING

JANUARY TO MARCH 2008

Prepared for Prepared by

The Urban Institute

Georgia Communities Empowered for Local Decision-Making United States Agency for International Development Cooperative Agreement No. 114-A-00-04-00131-00

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 2100 M Street, NW Washington, DC 20037 (202) 833-7200 March 2008 www.urban.org UI Project 07755-000-00

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Highlights ...... 2

II. Progress of Major Activities...... 3

III. Deliverables and Reports...... 10

IV. Problems or Delays Affecting Performance ...... 10

V. Work Planned for Next Reporting Period ...... 11

QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT

JANUARY TO MARCH 2008

GEORGIA COMMUNITIES EMPOWERED FOR LOCAL DECISION-MAKING

Cooperative Agreement No.: 114-A-00-04-00131-00

Date of Issuance: September 23, 2004

Amount Obligated: $8,965,351

Total Potential Award Amount: $9,999,741

Key Personnel: William Krause, Chief of Party, [email protected] Marika Shioshvili, Deputy Chief of Party, [email protected]

Project Description

The overall objective of this project is:

— More Effective, Responsive, and Accountable Local Governance in Georgia (USAID Strategic Objective 2.31).

Intermediate Results that should advance the objective include the following:

— Improved Capacity of Local Communities to Engage Local Government to strengthen communities’ capacity to rebuild essential services, restore incomes and empower all citizens of Georgia to have an effective voice in government.

CELD is designed to achieve community level impact by using a bottom-up approach to systematically assist Georgian communities to nurture democratic reform efforts.

Expected key results are:

1. Legislative reform matching local government revenues more closely to local government responsibilities is in place.

2. The interests of local governments are advocated and local government best practice is disseminated through demand-driven, democratically organized associations with grass- roots support.

Georgia Communities 2 Empowered for Local Decision-Making

3. Local government/citizen partnerships implement more effective and participatory methods for managing resources and delivering services.

4. Realistic local economic development plans and actions in targeted communities are developed and implemented.

5. Sustainable capacity of Georgian organizations to deliver technical assistance and training to local governments is established.

6. Public awareness of and citizen participation in the affairs of local self-government is increased.

I. HIGHLIGHTS

• The CELD/NALAG consultants assisted municipal administrations throughout the country by facilitating a NALAG Q&A on legal issues requested by municipalities, providing local self-government legislation, drafting job descriptions for newly recruited staff, participating in evaluating candidates for staff positions, obtaining information on grant availability, contacting firms producing garbage bins and generally providing information to municipalities as requested.

• With funding and support from CELD, the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG) organized a National Conference on Prospects and Developments of Local Government on March 3 to discuss accomplishments since the 2006 local government elections and analyze the current status of decentralization in Georgia.

• CELD assisted local governments in developing, finalizing and printing Community-Based Economic Development plans for , , , , , , , Dedoplistskaro, , , , and . The plans have been submitted to the municipal Sakrebulos for review and approval.

• During the reporting period, CELD worked with the Ministry of Finance to analyze the transfer formula and provide recommendations for improvement. CELD presented the analysis at the NALAG conference on the Prospects and Developments of Local Governments (described above), including recommendations to improve the formula, such as changes in the approach to the regression analysis and the use of better explanatory variables.

• A total of 60 Resource Corners, including 26 established during the reporting period, are now active throughout the country. These Corners provide local self-government staff and the broader community with access to publications on local self-government legislation, guidebooks on CELD programs and booklets on issues such as freedom of information, public hearings, etc. More than 1000 people visited the Corners during the first quarter of 2008.

Quarterly Progress Report January to March 2008 3

II. PROGRESS OF MAJOR ACTIVITIES

Cross-Cutting Activities

Donor Coordination

In March 2008, CELD and the SME Support project agreed that CELD will provide assistance to people in in drafting applications for the fifth round of the SME Support Project’s Competitive Grants Program, which is designed to contribute to the region’s competitiveness as a local and international tourism destination. CELD staff and the CELD/NALAG Samegrelo–Zemo Svaneti consultants will visit Mestia in early April to provide four days of consultations for local entrepreneurs on preparing applications for the program.

The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) asked CELD for assistance in implementing its No to Trafficking program during March 2008. In response to their request, CELD/NALAG consultants provided logistical and organizational support for the program. In March 2008, anti-trafficking events took place in , and . Fifty people attended the event in Zestaponi; 23 in Poti and 29 in Ninotsminda. Anti-trafficking issues were discussed and an anti-trafficking video was shown.

CELD is working with the Eurasia Partnership Foundation on an NGO capacity-building initiative. CELD/NALAG consultants are in the process of preparing a database of newly established local NGOs and initiative groups and conducting a brief needs assessment. The Eurasia Partnership Foundation will launch its NGO capacity building program immediately after completion of the needs assessment. CELD will provide comprehensive information about the NGO sector in every municipality, as well as assist in organizing meetings and provide training to interested NGOs in proposal writing and all aspects of CELD’s training.

On February 25, CELD participated in the Annual Resource Fair organized by the Peace Corps. CELD- published materials were displayed at the event, including: “Keeping Citizens Informed,” “Forming Citizen’ Advisory Boards,” “You Have the Right to Know,” “Functions and Structure of Local Self-government,” “Citizens and Information,” and the International Funds Guide and guidebooks on Community-Based Economic Development, Municipal Service Improvement, Modern Urban Development and Lobbying. CELD also distributed contact information for the CELD/NALAG consultants, a list of CELD partner municipalities, the monthly CELD bulletin and CELD success stories. About 50 copies of publications were given out at the Resource Fair. The Community-Based Economic Development Guidebook and International Funds Guide were the most in demand.

Representatives of CELD regularly attend the technical working group meetings at the OSCE office. These meetings discuss the assessment of presidential elections, political environment, election administration, and problems occurring during the election process. The coordination of assistance for Parliamentary elections, proposals and next steps ahead are also discussed. During the reporting period, five OSCE meetings were attended by CELD representatives.

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NALAG

With funding and support from CELD, the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG) organized a National Conference on Prospects and Developments of Local Government to discuss accomplishments since the 2006 local government elections and analyze the current status of decentralization in Georgia. The conference took place on March 3, 2008, at the Courtyard Marriot. High- level Georgian and USAID officials attended the conference, along with the representatives from municipalities, political parties, the Ministry of Finance, NGOs and the media. The Vice-Speaker of the Parliament, Mikheil Machavariani; the new State Minister of Regional Development, David Tkeshelashvili; and Robert Wilson, USAID Mission Director, attended the conference. Conference topics included the status of decentralization in Georgia, an evaluation of the local government fiscal system, and the local government system in the Autonomous Republic. The conference was covered by all national television channels and major newspapers. Information about the event was posted on NALAG’s website. In total, 56 people attended the event. Local Sakrebulo representatives expressed unhappiness with their roles vis-à-vis the Gamgebelis and the level of financing available to them for the support of exclusive functions. Even though the Organic Law makes the Gamgebeli subordinate to the Sakrebulo, the central government often bypasses the Sakrebulo by issuing direct instructions to the Gamgebeli, usually through the Regional Governor or the Ministry of Finance. Because the Sakrebulos and central government are dominated by the same political party, the local elected officials do not feel that they can make an issue of this publicly.

During the reporting period, CELD/NALAG regional consultants collected 62 questions on legal issues from local government staff and officials. These included questions on land legalization; exclusive rights of local self-governments; establishing a normative price on non-agricultural land under local self-government ownership as well as other questions. The collected questions were sent to the NALAG lobbyist by the CELD/NALAG regional consultants. Kakha Gurgenidze, the NALAG lobbyist, answered all the questions from the municipalities and posted them on the NALAG website as well as sending individual answers back to the regional consultants.

The CELD/NALAG consultants assisted municipal administrations throughout the country by providing local self-government legislation, drafting job descriptions for newly recruited staff, participating in evaluating candidates for staff positions, obtaining information on grant availability, contacting firms producing garbage bins and generally providing information to municipalities in response to requests. During the reporting period, these CELD/NALAG consultants, in conjunction with CELD staff, conducted 50 working meetings on program budgets, 58 on community-based local economic development (CBED), 73 on service improvement, and 24 on property transfer and land legalization issues. As a result, 57 program budgets have been developed, 52 service improvement action plans have been finalized, 13 CBED plans have been finalized and submitted to Sakrebulos for approval. The consultants trained 16 youth groups in street rating and surveying techniques as part of the Service Improvement program.

Decentralization and National Capacity-Building Activities

Legislation Training

Quarterly Progress Report January to March 2008 5

During the reporting period CELD, together with NALAG, conducted six legislation training sessions for 120 people from six municipalities: Tetritskaro, , , , and . Four staff and officials from each municipality attended the sessions: the Deputy Sakrebulo Chair, the Deputy Gamgebeli and two Gamgeoba lawyers. The presenters were Kakha Gurgenidze, NALAG lobbyist, and Beka Mikautadze, CELD local resources program manager. The topics included the Organic Law, Local Budget Law, State Supervision Law, Privatization Law and Property Law presentations and discussions.

An important focus of the presentations was on the new amendments to the Privatization Law. At the end of each session, group discussions were held to clarify the legislative topics generating the most interest, including property privatization rules and required documentation; land legalization procedures, the new equalization transfer formula calculation system, etc.

At the training, participants discussed creating a municipal lawyers’ network. At the end of the sessions, the CELD/NALAG team asked the participating municipalities’ lawyers to create a network of Georgian Municipalities’ Lawyers to work with NALAG to ensure that the Association received suggestions and recommendations from municipal professionals on upcoming legislative changes in a timely manner.

During the reporting period, CELD provided consultations on property transfer, Home Owner’s Association creation/implementation and legislation issues to 26 municipalities.

On February 29, CELD organized a meeting with the government of the Adjara Autonomous Republic to discuss the Constitutional Law on Adjara Autonomous Republic Status, the Adjara Autonomous Republic Constitution and the Organic Law on Self-governments. The main issue of the meeting was a review of paragraph 2, Article 2 of the Constitutional Law, which states, “In the Autonomous Republic of Adjara it is admissible to establish only the bodies of authority, envisaged by this Law.” This review was required because the Constitutional Law does not envisage the creation of local authorities and does not mention local self-government at all. As a result, the six municipalities of Adjara exist outside the legal framework and the only legal authorities in Adjara are the Supreme Council and the Government of the Adjara Autonomous Republic. As a result of the meeting, in order to correct this legal gap, the Supreme Council of Adjara prepared a letter to the Parliament of Georgia requesting changes in the Constitutional Law.

At the meeting, the Adjara government also discussed the competences of the Autonomous Republic competences that overlap with local self-government and should be removed from Autonomous Republic legislation. At the meeting, the concern was raised that if the eight indicated competences out of the 13 total were removed, it would leave the Autonomous Republic government to deal only with budgetary issues. This issue was included in the letter to the Parliament requesting clear separation of power between Adjara Autonomous Republic authorities and Local Self-government bodies of Adjara.

At the meeting, the participants supported the idea of creating a working group to address the status of the Adjara Autonomous Republic and the status of Local Self-government bodies in Adjara. The working group, including representatives from the city government, the Adjara Autonomous Republic government, the Parliament of Georgia and the Government of Georgia will work on revising the status of Adjara Autonomous Republic, conduct analyses of foreign experience, and prepare legislative changes for the new Parliament to be elected in spring 2008.

Georgia Communities 6 Empowered for Local Decision-Making

Strengthening Communities: Managing Local Resources

Community-Based Economic Development (CBED)

On January 25, CELD’s Local Economic Development Program leader met with the new mayor of , Nugzar Shamugia, and discussed the need for updating Kutaisi’s Community-Based Economic Development Plan, which was developed with CELD’s help in 2007. The City of Kutaisi recently received a 30 million GEL grant from the state government under which the infrastructure in the city center will be rehabilitated. In addition to this project, there are a number of small projects in the city that should be incorporated into the city’s CBED plan. The Mayor asked CELD to provide assistance in updating the plan with the municipal economic department staff.

As a result of the January meeting with the Kutaisi Mayor, on February 27, CELD’s Local Economic Development Program leader conducted a workshop on the CBED planning process, tools and methodology and presented the Kutaisi Economic Development plan for 2007–2011 to the newly appointed staff and officials of the Economic Development Department, Foreign Relations Department and the Sakrebulo of Kutaisi. At the workshop, training participants reviewed the approved action plan and highlighted the actions already implemented. They also presented those actions that have to be incorporated into the plan based on the updated data collected and provided by the Kutaisi Economic Department and Foreign Relations Department.

On February 12, CELD’s Local Economic Development Program manager met with the Head of Budget Unit Department at the Ministry of Finance, Gigi Tabatadze. She briefed him about CELD Local Economic Development program activities, planning methodology, ongoing and completed projects and presented the CBED guidebook as well as CBED plans from partner municipalities. The Head of the Department said that CELD’s methodology of planning will be very helpful for municipalities in completing the small project request form that they are required to submit to the Ministry of Finance with their local budgets.

CELD assisted local governments in developing, finalizing and printing Community-Based Economic Development plans for Khelvachauri, Kobuleti, Khulo, Shuakhevi, Senaki, Abasha, Martvili, Dedoplistskaro, Gurjaani, Kvareli, Sagarejo, Telavi and Lagodekhi. The plans have been submitted to the municipal Sakrebulos for review and approval.

During the reporting period, Batumi, , , and municipalities submitted draft versions of their Community-Based Economic Development plans to the CELD Tbilisi office for the program leader’s review and comments, before submitting them to local councils for review and approval.

The Tbilisi City Hall Economic Policy Agency plans to set up a Network of Cities Transitioning from Industrial Economy to Knowledge-Based Economy that will include the biggest cities in Georgia. The network will share experience, implement joint projects and undertake other cooperation for the economic development of network member communities. In support of developing this network, Tbilisi municipality requested that CELD assists Kutaisi, Batumi and Poti local governments in updating the community profiles of their Community Based Economic Development plans; the CELD/NALAG consultants are currently providing this assistance.

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Other

CELD assisted Kutaisi to develop tourism booklets designed to attract local and foreign tourists to the city. In January, 2000 copies of booklets were printed and delivered to the municipality. The booklet features large photos and text about the attractions of Kutaisi and its surrounding areas.

Financial Management

Fifty-seven CELD partner municipalities have produced program budgets for FY 2008. Each budget includes a transmittal letter from the Gamgebeli; a general overview of economic, social and demographic environment; program descriptions, goals and objectives for each program or subprogram; performance indicators for all budget appropriations by department and by program; financial data including aggregate tables for the major line items; financial data for individual programs and subprograms. Budgets also include FY 2007 budget execution data.

The budgets were approved by the municipal Sakrebulos following at least one public hearing. Some cities, such as Kutaisi, held several public hearings. In Kutaisi, each major part of the budget, such as social services and maintenance was addressed in separate public hearings to facilitate detailed presentation and discussion. In total, more than 3000 people attended the public hearings in the 57 participating municipalities. Changes made based on input from citizens accounted for around 10 percent of overall public spending in all municipalities, excluding Tbilisi.

The tax legislation has been changed so that the shared state tax is no longer a source of revenue for local governments. As a result, the redistribution of revenues via the equalization transfer has become more important for local governments. During the reporting period, CELD worked with the Ministry of Finance to analyze the transfer formula and provide recommendations for improvement. CELD examined the regressions run by the Ministry of Finance in order to determine if the allocated funds would be sufficient to maintain the current level of services. It also examined the correlation between the regression coefficients that link the time series data to the forecasts of future expenditure and transfers. CELD’s analysis shows that the formula produces inequities because inappropriate statistical methods have been used to calculate the transfers.

CELD presented the analysis at the NALAG conference on the Prospects and Developments of Local Governments (described above). CELD presented recommendations to improve the formula, including changes in the approach to the regression analysis and the use of better explanatory variables.

CELD continues to support a professional association of Municipal Finance Officers, established in December 7, 2007. During the reporting period, CELD organized a series of introductory regional workshops for municipal finance officers and other stakeholders involved in local budgeting. The meetings were designed to inform municipal finance officers about the establishment of the Finance Officers’ Association, its role, functions and membership status. Participants have also been invited to attend the national conference planned for April 2008. Overall 12 regional meetings were held covering eight regions of Georgia. The region will be covered in April 2008.

A class in financial management was conducted at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) for Local Government School students in January 2008. The curriculum covered the major topics of financial

Georgia Communities 8 Empowered for Local Decision-Making

management including: budget structure and budget format, revenue and expenditure forecasting, capital programming, and performance management. Students were given a take home final exam that included developing a program budget for a Georgian municipality. Five groups of students transferred the existing official line item budget into the new, program-based budget for Gurjaani municipality and presented the results.

Service Improvement (Performance Management)

January 8 – 14, five sessions of the Performance Management Data Collection Workshop were conducted for 110 Service Improvement Working Group members from 52 partner municipalities using the Performance Management methodology introduced by CELD. The training covered the following topics: current status of Performance Management Program; trained observer ratings as an alternative data collection tool; service-focused surveys for developing Service Improvement Action Plan (SIAP) indicators. At the end of the training, participants developed their own plans for organizing and conducting the data collection activities using the knowledge received at the training.

As a result of this training, in February and March, 14 municipalities conducted service-focused surveys and trained observer ratings to obtain data on citizens’ expectations and needs regarding municipal service provision. In total, 9,200 respondents were surveyed on service-related issues. In addition, the cleanliness of 30 - 35 streets in each municipality was rated by youth groups. The average percentage of rated streets in the participating municipalities that are given a rating of clean or very clean will be calculated after collecting data from all municipalities.

The other 38 municipalities plan to conduct data collection activities in April 2008. During the reporting period, service improvement working groups selected the volunteer groups and trained them on survey and rating techniques.

In January, 52 municipal Sakrebulos selected two-to-three additional service sectors to apply the Performance Management approach in. The new services are street lighting, parks and recreation zones, municipal improvements and local road rehabilitation. The working groups are in the process of collecting data for the situation analysis and developing Service Improvement Action Plans for the new services. During the first quarter of 2008, based on requests submitted by municipalities, billing and collection software was installed in 12 municipalities. The software helps municipal cleaning services to create an accurate database of customers, forecast revenue and track collection rates. CELD staff conducted one day on-the-job training for the cleaning service operators. Currently, 42 partner municipalities are using the billing and collection software developed and provided by CELD.

Municipal Service Providers’ Association of Georgia

In January and February 2008, the Municipal Service Providers’ Association of Georgia (MSPAG) conducted eight regional meetings covering all the regions in the country. Almost 300 local officials and representatives of municipal service provider units participated in the regional meetings. The purpose of these meetings was to inform municipalities of the establishment of the Municipal Service Providers’ Association, discuss the main goals and objectives of this institution and inform attendants about the national conference planned for March 13.

Quarterly Progress Report January to March 2008 9

On March 13, 2008, MSPAG conducted its first National Conference in Tbilisi, at the Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel. The agenda of the conference included: a presentation on the establishment of MSPAG, a discussion of the charter of the association and elections of the Executive Board and the President of the association.

The conference was attended by 160 representatives of municipal Sakrebulos, Gamgeobas and municipal service delivery companies from 56 municipalities. The conference was also attended by the State Minister for Refugee Issues, Koba Subeliani, who was previously the head of the City Improvement Department of Tbilisi City Hall and initiated many city improvement projects in Tbilisi. A representative of the State Minister of Regional Issues also attended the conference.

The majority of conference participants voted for Giorgi Datunashvili, the deputy head of the Tbilisi City Improvement Department, as the President of MSPAG. The participants also elected 19 members of the Executive Board and agreed on the three main tasks that the board and the president should work on before the second assembly of the association. These tasks are: develop amendments to the current charter regarding the structure, roles and responsibilities of Executive Board; conduct preliminary discussions of draft amendments in regions before presenting them to the assembly; and develop a plan for the organizational development of Municipal Service Providers’ Association.

Other

In March 2008, John Jackson, a VNG International expert invited by NALAG, conducted a workshop on strategic planning for CELD/NALAG consultants. Service provision, leadership benchmarks, communications strategy and other topics were covered at the workshop. The workshop was funded by the National Local Government Association of Netherlands. The purpose of the workshop was to assist in the development of a strategic plan for NALAG.

CELD/NALAG Shida Kartli region consultant, Eka Japiashvili and Gori information center director, Misha Chitadze, conducted a proposal writing training for 11 Gori State University professors and 15 public library staff members in response to their request.

An additional 26 Resource Corners were launched in CELD partner municipalities. These Corners provide local self-government staff and the broader community with access to publications on local self-government legislation, guidebooks on CELD programs and booklets on issues such as freedom of information, public hearings, etc. The following publications are currently available at the Resource Corners: Local Self- Government Budget (booklet), Keeping Citizens Informed (booklet), Forming Citizen Advisory Boards (booklet), You Have the Right To Know (booklet), International Funds Guide, Community-Based Economic Development Guidebook, Municipal Service Improvement Guidebook, Program Budget Guidebook, Property Transfer Guidebook, Functions and Structure of Local Self-Government, Citizens and Information (booklet), Modern Urban Development Guidebook and Program Budget Examples. The publications are available for every interested citizen. Announcements about the establishment of the resource corners are posted in municipality buildings.

In total, 60 Local Government Resource Corners are now open all over Georgia. About 1000 different people visited Local Government Resource Corners from January through March 2008: in , 50

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people visited the Corner; in , 78; in Abasha, 70; in Batumi, 81; in , 62; in Martvili, 87; in , 60; in Kutaisi, 197; in Tskaltubo, 82; in , 78; in , 53; in Gori, 57; in , 38.

CELD/NALAG regional consultants organized and conducted 13 NGO roundtables during the reporting period. The roundtables took place in Kutaisi, Poti, Ozurgeti, Kvareli, Batumi, Gori, Lagodekhi, Zestaponi, and Akhaltsikhe. In total, 169 NGO representatives participated in the roundtable meetings. The NGO roundtables are intended to facilitate the exchange of information between operating NGOs about current activities, sharing information on grant announcements by various donor organizations, discussing issues concerning civil society, establishing citizens’ advisory boards and other matters.

CELD continues to support GIPA, which offers graduate and certificate courses to local government officials and other students. GIPA Public Relations and Marketing Director developed a brochure on the GIPA local government school for use as marketing material for donors and central government agencies and for local governments. CELD printed 1500 copes of the Georgian versions of the brochures for GIPA.

III. DELIVERABLES AND REPORTS

• Presentation on transfer formula analysis. Georgian and English versions. • Financial Management course curriculum and reading material for the Georgian Institute of Public Affair’s Local Government School. Georgian version. • Packet of training materials for Performance Management Data Collection and Analysis workshop. Georgian version. • Trip reports from the eight regional meetings of the Municipal Service Providers' Association of Georgia, January and February, 2008. English version. • Minutes and report of the National Conference of Municipal Service Providers’ Association of Georgia, March 13, 2008. English version. • Kutaisi tourism booklets 2000 copies. Georgian - English version. • Electronic versions of draft Khelvachauri, Kobuleti, Khulo, Shuakhevi, Senaki, Abasha, Martvili, Dedoplistskaro, Gurjaani, Kvareli, Sagarejo, Telavi, Lagodekhi, Batumi, Akhmeta, Akhaltsikhe, Adigeni and Zugdidi local economic development plans. Georgian versions. • Success stories prepared and sent to USAID: Accounting success story “From the Abacus to the Computer,” Municipal Service Improvement success story “Cleaning up ,” Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) success story “GIPA Graduate at work.” English versions. • Report on the Legislative Activities of CELD since 2004. English version. • Report on the Property Transfer Project. English version. • Adjara trip report, February 29, 2008. English version. • Nine weekly reports from CELD/NALAG consultants.

IV. PROBLEMS OR DELAYS AFFECTING PERFORMANCE None.

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V. WORK PLANNED FOR NEXT REPORTING PERIOD

Decentralization and National Capacity-Building Activities • Provide support to the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG). • Work with FORECAST program to arrange a study tour to the U.S. on association development in June.

Strengthening Communities: Managing Local Resources • Conduct National Conference of Municipal Finance Officer’s Association of Georgia. • Conduct two regional workshops for new Gamgebelis and Sakrebulos chairs on CELD program components. • Conduct proposal writing workshops for CELD partner municipalities in response to requests from 36 municipalities. • Conduct one more regional meeting of Municipal Finance Officer’s Association for Shida-Kartli region representatives. • Conduct two working meetings of the Municipal Service Providers’ Association executive board to develop amendments to the current charter regarding the structure, roles and responsibilities of executive board. • Assist 38 partner municipalities with data collection activities and with developing performance measures for the selected new service sectors. • Conduct follow-up monitoring visits to check the status of CBED program implementation and assist local CBED working groups in 18 municipalities to finalize CBED plans for submission to the local Sakrebulos for approval. • Visit , Shida-Kartli, and Samegrelo municipalities to consult on privatization legislation and to promote Home Owners’ Association maintenance/creation. • Continue work with interested municipalities on the property request process. • Provide training and materials to local NGOs on all CELD activities. • Hold a one-day workshop for firms developing proposals for the new USAID local government program to acquaint them with CELD activities over the past eight years and the status of local governments.