In his first interview with the Dalmacija Danas portal, he disclosed why he ran for mayor, what his first moves will be and how he intends to work with the Town Council.
Last Sunday, two political novelties took place on Hvar island. Rikardo Novak became the new Mayor of Hvar town, he is an independent candidate who was seen to be a better option than SDP’s Rino Budrović. Rikardo’s win is even more interesting as he did not also run for a seat in the Town Council. The second novelty took place in Stari Grad, where both the HDZ candidate Mihaela Petrić and independent candidate Antonio Škarpa received an identical number of votes, so elections will have to be repeated, Dalmacija Danas reported on June 6, 2017.
Two days after his election win, we spoke with the new Mayor of Hvar town, Rikardo Riki Novak. In his first interview with Dalmacija Danas he disclosed why he ran for mayor, what his first moves will be and how he intends to work with the Town Council for which he did not run.
Did you expect the victory?
First of all, when someone competes, they do so in hope of winning. When you play a game, you hope to win it, not lose. I have to thank voters who recognised our programme and supported us in this story. We need to start working as soon as possible.
What were the main points of your programme, what can Hvar expect in the next four years?
First and foremost, I am new to this story and I have to survey what the town has been doing so far, how it was doing it, what the projects are, directions, how far did we get etc. Next comes the handover of the town with all the documents. We have to survey and inspect the situation and begin to deal with municipal issues. The season has begun, and some things cannot be changed as they have been contracted. Of course, we will monitor the situation, detect shortcomings and create new ideas, leave our mark on the entire story.
You come from the world of private business. Citizens gave their trust to, speaking conditionally, an apolitical person. How do you interpret that?
I worked in my own company. Every company has its own policies. High politics should not be present in small communities. The only politics we care about is to be organised and functional. If we have it good, so will our guests. I took part in politics as a member of certain committees with the Town Council, an assembly member of the tourist board, and as a member and activist of various associations. Coming into power, we will certainly have to adapt to politics.
Will a lack of experience in running a town be a problem?
I believe running a town equates to running a large company. In the last 27 years I ran a large company. As for organisation, I see it as a large personal challenge, as something new and beautiful. I believe some things can be solved easily.
Who is your deputy?
My deputy is Kuzman Novak, a man of 27 years of age. He has a degree in political science and international relations.
One of your pre-election statements was that Hvar should not be perceived in the future only as a party destination, but that domestic cultural and historical heritage must be pushed forward more. Should party people be concerned over the change of authority?
No one needs to be afraid. Right now those looking for some rest are afraid of party people. I would not like to see Hvar turned into the other extreme. Hvar was home to people of various profiles since ancient history, and they were always welcome. So the party people are welcome, but also others who have been pushed back are too. We need a quality tourism strategy in order to see in which direction we want to go in. The cultural-historical aspect of our town is certainly our forte. Party people are here, in my opinion it is an offer which should not be abolished, but brought into the framework of natural and decent behaviour. There is a place for everyone on Hvar. It is also important to open the doors in pre and post season for those wanting to come to Hvar. Hvar has not existed since yesterday, and next year we are commemorating 150 years of continuous tourism. We began with one form of tourism and we want to adapt for every guest to be welcome.
This was the first time you ran for mayor, you won, but did not have a list for the Town Council. It is a kind of precedent for local elections in Croatia. Considering the Town Council oversees the work of the mayor, will you attempt to secure political stability on Hvar?
You noticed well, our intent was to turn the story around somewhat. It was just the two of us. We did not want to be in a situation where we need to count how many councilmen we have or to be burdened with the issue of political trade. We did not want to have a list as it may have brought a counter effect. In a small town, with 4,000 people, if one is not liked by some, it’s an automatic minus. We placed ourselves in the spotlight and said we are the ones who want to work. We don’t care who is left or right, or in the middle. We are ready to cooperate with everyone, as we don’t see councilmen as lists or parties, but people who live with us in the same town. We all know what hurts us most in this town, we need to work together on projects, that was the goal. The Mayor is a person who creates town politics together with the Council, not alone. Thus, we let people know that we are serious and are not manipulating anything.
Do you feel your victory is a potential inspiration to other places and islands?
This is a new challenge for me in life, which I feel I can complete. This is not a hasty idea. I believe the time has come for my involvement. Us islanders know life on the island is tough. Many people say “you have it so nice here on the island,” and we tell them to spend the winter here and talk to us again in the summer. It is very important for islands to stand together, due to all the issues they have, not alone. We have to join forces, just like we did through the Island Movement when we organised a forum recently. We want to support the Island Movement and resolve all the issues we share, as together, we can solve things in a better way. One of those issues are concessions. What took place lately in Bol, happened to us a long time ago. Bol had a strong media reach. I believe that case sent a message to politicians that local communities need to be consulted on such matters. No one can impose their will on us without our knowledge. Things have to get done, but the local community needs to be a partner to all who come to Hvar, as they are our guests, so they have to listen to hosts and partner with them.
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