the Mayor of Tbilisi, Davit Narmania, answered a question from the show’s host about what caused the number of people employed at Tbilisi City Hall to increase with a question of his own: "By how many people did the number of employees at Tbilisi City Hall decrease when we abolished the Monitoring Boards which were established by the United National Movement in 2013 and which employed former MPs, their cousins and so on?" Mr Narmania did not deny the increase in the number of employees at Tbilisi City Hall and explained that the City Hall employs as many people as he sees fit. He also said that if anyone conducts research and reveals that someone at City Hall is not working properly or that the number of employees is higher than necessary, then he is ready to hear his opinion.

looked into information about the number of people employed at Tbilisi City Hall.

In order to check the information we addressed Tbilisi City Hall with an official letter. According to the response we received, the number of people employed at Tbilisi City Hall Administration, Boards and Municipal Services and the overall amount of their remuneration funds from 2010 to 2015 look like this:

As the table makes clear, the number of employees at Tbilisi City Hall in 2015 (Administration, Boards and Municipal Services) is 249 more than in 2013 and 198 more than in 2014.

It should also be noted that according to the 2015 Tbilisi City Hall budget, which brings together the information about all the structural divisions of City Hall as well as about the LEPLs and Ltds, the overall number of employees is 3,178. This is 221 more than in 2014 and 345 more than in 2013.

As for the Monitoring Boards, the information of the Property Management Agency of Tbilisi City Hall indicates that Monitoring Boards were created at Hermes Ltd, Tbilservice Group Ltd, Tbilisi Transport Company Ltd and City of Light Ltd according to the 23 October 2012 Directive No. 28.30.1043 of the Government of Tbilisi. According to the same Directive, a total of nine people were appointed as members of the Monitoring Boards in each of these companies. These individuals have been appointed from 1 November 2012, for a one-year period, and their monthly wage was set at GEL 2,500.

According to the 2 May 2013 Directive of the Government of Tbilisi, the 23 October 2012 Directive was amended and the number of members of the Monitoring Boards increased to 13. The members of the Monitoring Boards of the Tbilisi Transport Company Ltd (13 people), Hermes Ltd (13 people), Tbilservice Group Ltd (12 people) and City of Light Ltd (13 people) have been dismissed from their offices. In addition, the articles about the existence of the Monitoring Boards were taken out of the charters of these companies. In total, the number of employees at Tbilisi City Hall decreased by 51 people after the abolition of the Monitoring Boards.

The overall number of people employed at Tbilisi City Hall is 3,718. This is 221 more than in 2014 and 345 more than in 2013. Despite the fact that the number of employees of Tbilisi City Hall decreased by 51 people after the abolition of the Monitoring Boards, this has had no significant influence upon the overall number of employees.

will not engage in the discussion of whether or not it was necessary to increase the number of employees at Tbilisi City Hall or whether or not they are working properly. The fact is that the number of dismissed employees ("former MPs, their cousins and so on" as stated by Mr Narmania) owing to the abolition of the Monitoring Boards is 51 whilst the growth in the number of "necessary" employees at Tbilisi City Hall has reached 345 since 2013.