Jurmala still has potential in the field of tourism, as there are opportunities to develop both nature, medical and rehabilitation tourism, the candidates running in the municipal elections are convinced. They said that more focus should be placed on attracting tourists from the Baltic Sea region, including Scandinavia.

The political forces running in the city are convinced that the municipality should make better use of historical sites for business development and work more actively with degraded properties.

Competition for a seat in the resort town is among the highest in the country, with an average of 11.5 candidates running for a seat.

What should the first priority tasks for the municipality after the storm and floods of 2024 be to prevent a similar situation from happening again?

Harmony, Larisa Loskutova: To arrange the drainage and sewage systems. To maintain and monitor river "arteries" such as the Vecslocene and the Versupite to ensure that water is discharged into the Lielupe River. To ensure owners' responsibility for illegal blocking or failure to maintain ditches. To attract co-financing from European Union funds.

Latvia First, Liga Krapane: I am a resident of Melluzi and this is one of the neighborhoods in Jurmala that was hit the hardest by the July storm. Trees were uprooted, there were floods for at least a week, then an insect infestation. This was the reality after the storm, and not only in Melluzi. The drainage system has been neglected in Jurmala, even though a drainage plan was approved in 2013. If the ditch system is not urgently cleaned up and the city does not do its part, these situations will happen again and again. You do not even need a storm, heavy rainfall will do it. This has been and will continue to be the case if the issue is not prioritized, especially in places where it is already happening regularly today.

National Alliance, Andris Cuda: It is clear that the existing civil protection plans in the municipality have not worked out. During and after the storm, there was no effective crisis management, no coordinated action between the responsible services, no information to the citizens. Therefore, the establishment and regular practical testing of workable civil protection mechanisms that are understandable to citizens - including evacuation plans, a public notification system and mobilization of a task force - should be a priority.

The 2024 floods proved that the current system is unable to drain rainfall, causing significant damage to properties. A comprehensive audit of the drainage network needs to be carried out and a systematic, planned effort to reconstruct and maintain it needs to be initiated.

The municipality must prioritize the safety of its citizens, and this means not just documentation but real action - both in maintaining infrastructure and in strengthening its operational response capacity. Real-time monitoring of the situation in the city's CCTV system with mobile alerting according to location.

How can the municipality improve its work on abandoned properties in the city?

Harmony: Increase the tax rate for owners and instruct them to clean up, conserve or demolish the buildings. If the owner fails to comply with the order within the set time limit, it is necessary to impose a coercive fine. If the owner fails to take action for a long period, the municipality must demolish the property at its own expense, if this can be done without disproportionate investment, and apply to the courts to recover the funds.

Latvia First: You are probably referring not to abandoned properties, but to those that have become slums because of the owners' negligence or inability to keep them in order. Unfortunately, there are many of these in Jurmala, and many of them have the status of architectural monuments, which makes renovation or reconstruction even more difficult. The only way to start dealing with these properties is through a stricter tax policy, up to and including the possibility for the municipality to organize an auction of the property if the owner has shown no real interest in maintaining it up within a certain period of time.

National Alliance: Proactive work with owners (the municipality is already drawing up a list), increased real estate tax (law amendments are needed as often the existing 3 percent do not motivate the owner), clear guidelines for the conservation and visual presentation of the property, which must be enforced and the costs are recovered by way of recourse. Support measures with information, co-financing for heritage properties for those owners who are accessible and open to communication.

Can the municipality afford all the forms of support for residents that are currently in place?

Harmony: Yes, we are already providing it. We are also helping other municipalities to provide it by allocating funds to the Equalization Fund.

Latvia First: The years of support received by the residents and the financial situation of the city budget in these years show that Jurmala can afford it, and Jurmala should continue to do so.

National Alliance: Jurmala can afford to do so at the moment without potential investment projects and by auctioning municipal forests. Of course, this is not sustainable and not in line with good governance. But the municipality is also completely ignoring the business environment and not contributing to future revenues from the resort town's main source of highly paid jobs in the hospitality and health sectors, where we have the lowest gross domestic product per capita.

Do you see a need for the city to attract investors to develop industry?

Harmony: I believe that Jurmala should encourage new manufacturing and technology companies to come to the city, this would create new jobs for the residents. The companies must be environmentally friendly, because we are a resort town. Special attention should be paid to historical industrial areas, such as the former paper mill in Sloka or the former factory in Kudra, most of which is now degraded. These sites lack the necessary utilities, easily accessible roads and adequate infrastructure that would be essential to attract potential investors.

Latvia First: The city needs to attract investors primarily for the development of resort services, as Jurmala has unfortunately over the years only lost its status as a resort pearl, turning into a sleeping district for Riga. Jurmala must regain this good reputation, because we have all the privileges of nature - the sea, pine air, sulphur waters, mud. It is a sin not to make use of this and to let almost all the previously functioning health resorts and sanatoriums go to waste. But it should be stressed at once that Jurmala will not do this on its own without political commitment and support at national level. Moreover, the health resorts and sanatoriums would provide many jobs for the inhabitants of Jurmala themselves, without the need to go to Riga to work.

National Alliance: Jurmala cannot offer a competitive environment for industry, as high property prices and availability of labor/expense of living are more suited to high added value business. Priority should be given to amenities and resort services, and there are some historical sites lying idle, where the municipality should develop daily processes to attract investors. Light industry can be developed in existing/historical sites in Sloka, where the role of the municipality is limited to the provision of infrastructure.

How and in which markets should the municipality attract more tourists after the war in Ukraine has dried up inbound tourism from the East?

Harmony: To attract tourists, we need to work in Western European, Scandinavian markets. We also need to continue to work on attracting tourists from the Baltic states, CIS countries and local tourists. We need to take advantage of the city's resort status by developing high-quality medical and rehabilitation services.

Jurmala has great potential for the development of sports tourism, as the city is suitable for hosting local and international competitions. At the same time, it is important to use Jurmala's natural resources, especially the Lielupe River and its surroundings. Active recreation opportunities on the water should be expanded. We also need to attract film tourism, to create an environment for people to come and watch film sites, because our city as a whole is unique, both for its historic buildings and for its nature.

Latvia First: The primary tourist markets are Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Western Europe. The city needs to promote itself much more internationally. Unfortunately, this is not actually happening at the moment, and our Baltic neighbors have long been ahead of Jurmala.

National Alliance: Russia's invasion of Ukraine and aggression against the Ukrainian people has been going on for more than a decade. Restrictions on Russia in the form of tourism have not been enough so far, as Russian is still the predominant spoken language on the streets of Jurmala. This often scares away other, more promising tourism audiences and potential investors.

Our primary markets for the non-segmented tourist are definitely all the countries of the Baltic Sea region, except Russia. High added value tourism can only be developed by the municipality in close cooperation with the city's tourism operators specializing in specific services (e.g. non-seasonal health tourism) and working with their target audiences in a structured and targeted way. In absolute terms, Jurmala is a small tourist destination in the region, as the number of beds has only decreased in recent years. Not because of geopolitics, but because of the city's priorities and ambitions.

What are your political force's "red lines" for cooperation in the new council?

Harmony: There are no "red lines". The people of Jurmala are interested in a stable coalition in the city council. The more parties work together, the more the interests of the citizens will be represented, and this will benefit the development of the city.

Latvia First: We do not draw red lines before the election results are announced. We are working to gain representation in the Jurmala City Council and to implement our program.

National Alliance: Those political forces that will not be ready to implement the National Alliance’s program together with us and, of course, the pro-Russian parties.