Proč nejde stavět? Nikdo nevěděl
58 ǀ POSITIV MAN 2026 | Text: Monika Ševčíková, foto: Marn Grobe, Zlatá tretra
There are 22,000 university students in Ostrava,
compared to 70,000 in Brno. How do you perceive
that difference?
The difference is enormous. One of the missing pieces,
in my view, is a law faculty that could potentially be
established under the University of Ostrava. That
said, it is important to acknowledge that creating
a new faculty is far from simple. It is influenced both
by competition and by decisions made at the state
level. Universities in the Czech Republic compete
with one another for students as well as funding,
which means new programmes often face resistance
from outside institutions.
Even so, I believe it makes perfect sense.
Without developing education, the city will not move
forward. Young people who leave to study elsewhere
often never return, because they build both their personal
and professional lives there. That is why it is crucial for us
not only to retain our own students, but also to attract
new ones.
What kind of investors does Ostrava need?
A turning point for the region was the arrival of Hyundai
Motor Company, which brought with it an entire supply
chain. However, such a one-sided focus also carries risks
– if the automotive industry were to weaken, the impact
on the region would be significant.
That is why diversification is not just a vision,
but a necessity. I see inspiration, for example, in Katowice,
which chose to focus on e-gaming and successfully
attracted programmers and technology talent.
What surprised you most about being mayor?
I did not enter the role without experience. I had already
been involved in local politics for quite some time
and had also served briefly as Deputy Mayor, so I knew
the city well. I was responsible for sport and transport,
I understood the agenda, and I knew how to organise my
day and week effectively.
But once I became mayor, it was suddenly no longer
about just two areas – it became about absolutely
everything. In the morning I might be dealing
with a retirement home, then a hospital, transport,
the public transport company, somewhere
in between the zoo, and in the afternoon I could be
sitting down with a developer discussing where a new
street should be built. The scope is enormous.
That part I expected. What I did not expect, however,
was to completely lose control over time. There were
moments when I genuinely did not know what day
of the week it was – whether it was Saturday or Tuesday.
That was something I truly had not anticipated.
Is it possible to maintain that pace in the long term?
I believe that two electoral terms are the absolute
maximum a person can handle while still preserving their
mental – and perhaps physical – health. You can simply
“sit out” the role, but then the city would never move
forward. I want to do the job properly.
I have also looked quite closely at the performance of my
predecessors, and I think they experienced it in a very
similar way. Two terms are essentially the limit.
Have you sacrificed anything for your role?
I try to maintain some sort of private life, but it is difficult.
I cannot imagine going through this period while raising
small children.
I make a conscious effort to keep my family completely
out of the public spotlight. I know some politicians build
their image around that, but that is not my approach.
In my view, private life should remain separate.
And then there is the general loss of privacy. Not
long ago, I finally managed to get away for a skiing
weekend after quite some time. I take my skis off, go
for lunch, and the first thing I see is a pub full of people
from Ostrava. Sometimes it is pleasant, sometimes
amusing, but it is simply the reality of the role.
How do you prevent the position from disconnecting
you from reality?
Being mayor can be dangerous in that respect. If you
do not establish honest feedback around you very
quickly, you can easily end up in a situation where
everyone simply says yes to everything. That is a road
to disaster.
I have a group of people around me whose opinions
I value and who are capable of telling me the opposite
viewpoint as well. At the same time, I live a normal
life in this city – I spend time among people, attend
ordinary events, go to pubs. That connection with reality
comes naturally to me, and I think it is perfectly normal
to change your opinion. If I speak with several people
and they convince me, then I will change my view
and take something valuable away from it.
What advice would you give to a young person
considering a career in politics?
For me, the most important thing in politics is to enter
it with a clear vision. A person has to know what they
want. Many people enter politics as though it were a lift
to power or influence. In my opinion, that is the wrong
motivation.
I entered local politics because I live in this city
and wanted it to be a good place to live. At the time,
it never even crossed my mind that I might one day
become a mayor. That original motivation – the place
where I want to live and where I want my children to live
– has remained the same.
Read the full interview at positiv.cz
If you don’t set up feedback loops,
everyone will just tell you yes.