Under the leadership of Mayor Krzysztof Matyjaszczyk from the Left, Częstochowa has been plagued by scandal after scandal. For example, personal data of residents leaked from the Municipal Social Welfare Center (MOPS), yet no one was punished. Over 15 years, the city has accumulated more than 1 billion PLN in debt. Meanwhile, the hospital once run by Left politician Wojciech Konieczny—a former deputy health minister in the “December 13 coalition” government—is now on the verge of bankruptcy. Residents have decided to remove the mayor. Signatures in support of holding a referendum are being collected until October 18 of this year. It is a grassroots initiative, supported by the local structures of Law and Justice (PiS) and the Confederation. This is the first referendum—two more are also underway, one concerning illegal migrants and the other the recall of the City Council. In the Częstochowa council, the majority is held by the Left and Civic Platform, with PiS in opposition.
In the city of 200,000, Law and Justice prepared a point-by-point summary of Mayor Matyjaszczyk’s 15-year rule. The findings are alarming. Matyjaszczyk has been mayor since 2010. At that time, city debt stood at about 350 million PLN; now it exceeds 1 billion PLN. This is among the highest debt levels in Silesia, behind only Żory, Bytom, and Zabrze. That same Zabrze recently got rid of its Civic Platform mayor.
A city losing its people
“Częstochowa is one of the fastest depopulating cities in Poland. With no prospects for the future, especially young people are leaving,” emphasized MP Lidia Burzyńska, head of the PiS district board in the Częstochowa region.
On top of that, scandals abound. The Municipal Hospital is on the brink of bankruptcy, with debt amounting to about 120 million PLN. For many years, it was directed by Wojciech Konieczny of the Left, until recently a deputy health minister in the December 13 coalition government.
Furthermore, data with PESEL numbers leaked from the Municipal Social Welfare Center and was later used in voting on a participatory budget project. No one was punished. The deputy director of the institution happens to be the sister-in-law of Krzysztof Matyjaszczyk.
Another issue: the renovation of National Road No. 1 in Częstochowa took twice as long and cost twice as much, due to disputes between city officials and the contractor. Meanwhile, the Municipal Transport Company (MPK) spent nearly 70 million PLN from the “Gazelle” program to purchase defective hybrid gas-electric buses. One of them caught fire and burned to the ground. The manufacturer has since gone bankrupt, meaning repairs won’t be covered by warranty. To achieve any ecological benefits, MPK must now not only buy new buses but also repair the existing ones at its own expense. Additionally, for five years, Bartłomiej S., a Civic Platform politician recently charged with multiple corruption offenses, worked as deputy mayor under Matyjaszczyk.
Spokesman downplays the matter
We asked Włodzimierz Tutaj, spokesman for the Częstochowa City Hall, whether Mayor Matyjaszczyk bears any responsibility for at least some of these scandals. He downplayed the issues, claiming that no irregularities had been found or that unfavorable market conditions had driven up costs.
“The matter of someone illegally using personal data during the participatory budget vote must be clarified by the prosecutor’s office, which has been conducting proceedings for some time. From the City Hall’s side, there were no irregularities in the voting process,” Tutaj said.
Residents are not convinced. They have shown the mayor a yellow card.
A grassroots initiative!
The referendum to recall the mayor is a bottom-up, civic initiative. It has been supported by both PiS and the Confederation.
“All the arguments now presented in the public debate are identical to the concerns we have voiced for many years,” said MP Burzyńska of PiS. “We are in favor of removing Krzysztof Matyjaszczyk from the office of Mayor of Częstochowa and support the referendum initiative.”
This is the first of three referendums. The other two concern illegal migrants and the recall of the City Council, where the Left and Civic Platform hold the majority.
For the initiative to be valid, it must be supported by 10 percent of eligible voters. The referendum could then be held between December 2025 and January 2026. For the result to be binding, three-fifths of the nearly 46,000 voters who took part in the second round of the 2024 local elections must cast their ballots.
A city without Civic Platform
It is worth recalling that in May of this year, residents of Zabrze—a city of about 150,000 that was the second most indebted in the region in 2024—removed Mayor Agnieszka Rupniewska from Civic Platform. She too was accused not only of driving the city into debt but also of nepotism and incompetence. She was replaced in August by community activist Kamil Żbikowski of the local association “Better Zabrze.”