The focus of today’s meeting of the Rīga City Council committee was an epic clash of public servants. However, what prompted deputy Kaspars Spunde (National Alliance) to attempt to start a fight?
The committee discussed the fate of a state-protected architectural monument of regional significance – a water tower built in 1913 by architect Wilhelm Boxlaff. The height of the tower is 47.5 meters, and it is located in Čiekurkalns, at Gaujas Street, 21.
As Rīga City Council deputy Vyacheslav Stepanenko (“Sovereign Power” / “Young Latvians”) told the bb.lv portal, some time ago this tower, along with a similar structure at Matisa Street, 2, was quietly removed from the balance sheet of the Rīgas ūdens company and transferred to the balance of the Property Department of the Rīga City Council. This is step number 1.
Step number 2 – at today’s scandalous meeting, the question of transferring the tower to the management of a certain Čiekurkalns Development Society (CDS) was raised. It was planned to be given for free, initially for a ten-year management period. Along with the 8-story tower, the CDS was to receive a piece of Rīga land measuring 2830 square meters as a “gift.”
The scandal erupted when City Council deputy Rudolf Bremanis (“Sovereign Power” / “Young Latvians”) began asking uncomfortable questions. Namely:
– Why did the CDS illuminate the tower in LGBT colors in December 2025? And how, in general, did the members of the CDS manage to penetrate and start managing an object that is still owned by the Rīga City Council?
It got worse: during the meeting, it turned out that Kaspars Spunde was one of the founders of the CDS and also served as a board member of the Society from 2015 to 2020.
It seems rather inappropriate – first, he founded the organization, and then he advocates for handing over a substantial piece of property that belongs to all Rīga residents.
The raised questions so agitated Kaspars Spunde that he began to shove and smash the phones that were on the tables. Apparently, to distract attention from the obvious conflict of interest, Mr. Spunde attempted to escalate it into a physical conflict. But he lost here as well.
