The Tölz city council dealt with the explosive topic of data protection and the rights of the elected representatives in its most recent meeting.
Bad Tölz - Gabriele Frei (CSU) and Johanna Pfund (Greens) coincidentally included the case study.
Before the meeting, the two city councilors requested that they be given an insight into the urban development contract and the purchase contracts for the Hintersberg residential project.
Are they allowed or not allowed to request access to the files?
With the help of the Bavarian Municipal Assembly, treasurer Hermann Forster had a "working paper" from the Bavarian State Commissioner for Data Protection, Prof. Dr.
Thomas Petri, which gives a clear recommendation.
"Individual city councilors have no general right to inspect files," Forster quoted the most important point.
"Object-related access claims" are only provided for minutes of meetings and audit reports.
A hot topic of data protection
Even the city council as a body does not have a general right to inspect files, but can demand this on the basis of its control tasks.
To do this, he had to instruct one or more councils to do the sighting.
However, the Bavarian Municipal Association recommended to the city of Tölz that the test item should then be specifically named and that “only the parliamentary group chairman and not all city council members” should inspect it.
In the case of individual decisions, according to Forster, the mayor must ensure that the city council receives enough information.
In order to prepare for a meeting, city councilors are allowed to inspect the bases of the decision, but only if there are no reasons for confidentiality.
If documents contain personal data (such as tax secrecy), the administration must ensure that data protection law is observed.
“Congratulatory work is a matter for the First Mayor”.
The right to inspect files of the representatives or speakers in the city council (e.g. sport, culture, business), who can view certain personal information within the scope of their area of responsibility, even without the respective consent of the plenum, extends a little further.
A striking example in the question and answer catalog of the data protection officer shows how far data protection law goes.
In order to congratulate deserving citizens on their milestone birthday, of course, you have to know when the jubilee day is.
This data should actually only be called up by the head of the municipality, because “Congratulations are the responsibility of the First Mayor”.
Ordinary councils are not allowed to access such data.
However, it can be agreed that some of the appointments will be kept by council members.
The data protection officer suggests that planning and preparation could then be entrusted to the mayor's office.
The congratulating community council member will then only find out which jubilee they should visit.
"From a data protection point of view, there are no objections to such a practice."
The Tölz city council reacted differently to the abundance of recommendations for action.
Filiz Cetin (SPD) made it short and sweet: "The control task of the city council is a must and not an optional task." Peter von der Wippel (FWG) found himself "always well informed in the city council and committees".
According to Mehner, everyone in the city council should have the same level of knowledge
Franz Mayer (Greens) thought little of appointing officers to inspect files.
“Every parliamentary group must have the opportunity to inspect files,” said Mayer.
Mayor Ingo Mehner (CSU) had nothing against it.
But it was important to him that “no knowledge of rulership arises”.
Everyone should have the same level of knowledge in the city council.
Mayer countered that it was the case that some city councilors were more, some less interested in a topic.
For the second mayor Michael Lindmair (FWG) it was important to note that in the city council, despite all control obligations, “no general distrust of the administration” should arise.
And what happened to the application from Frei und Pfund?
After a short banter about whether a file inspection appointment would be offered for one, two or all city councilors, it was unanimously agreed that it would be offered to all.
After all, so Frei, “we are eleven new city councilors”.
And they should get the same level of knowledge about Hintersberg as the old councilors.
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