Starnberg - Around 110 people come to the citizens' meeting in Starnberg and take the opportunity to find out about ongoing projects and plans.
"We cannot continue like this," explains Mayor Patrick Janik.
On Thursday, the first public meeting of the Patrick Janik era lasted almost exactly four hours, after the town hall chief, who was elected to office in May 2020 with 51.9 percent, was only able to put his annual report on the Internet the previous year due to Corona.
A good 110 citizens followed Janik's invitation to the Brunnangerhalle, which had to be used this time due to the renovation of the Schlossberghalle, which would last until December.
This year, half a dozen Starnbergers made use of their right to submit inquiries and motions, mostly on transport issues.
Janik's realization after two and a half years in office in view of the city's dwindling funds and immense tasks: "We can't go on like this."
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Mayor Patrick Janik provides information about the city's financial situation at the citizens' meeting.
© Andrea Jaksch
The mayor had literally gone to the event with a toothache - in any case, a treatment in the morning had left a fat cheek.
And because Patrick Janik, after two and a half years in office and an equally long pandemic, had a certain need to catch up on direct communication with citizens, he clearly missed the target he had set himself of 45 minutes speaking time with 1.34 hours - too many topics burned up for him the tongue.
In addition to the pure facts of his statement of accounts, Janik also revealed some personal and emotional things: "I was just as enthusiastic as I was appalled by the working conditions in the city administration," the 46-year-old revealed, but on the other hand praised the high level of efficiency and motivation of his 392 employees.
Unable to manage development plan procedures
Janik identified a structural reason for the chronic overburdening of his authority, especially the municipal building authority: "The municipal level has a problem - it does not receive the financial resources it needs." The city now has around 450 processes to process per year, says Janik – by 2021 there were still “between 200 and 250” building applications and the like: “It was built like no other”, we’ve been working at the limit for a long time.” Currently According to Janik, no fewer than 70 development plan procedures are pending, only ten can be managed with the available capacities and are "in progress".
At the same time, he observed a certain "fully comprehensive mentality" among the citizens,
The reserves of the city of Starnberg melt
The key points of his first official balance sheet and above all the look at Starnberg's finances made Janik repeatedly say sentences like "The city will not be able to handle it alone." Dramatically depleted reserves, a budget that can only be balanced by borrowing and a real mountain of tasks brought the mayor to the metaphor of a Tour de France mountain stage, before which you first have to check whether the bike works at all: he has to report on "truths that are unpleasant" - the scope of the city be only small.
Starnberg (officially currently 24,654 inhabitants, and rising) has now exceeded the state average in terms of per capita debt, according to a beamer graphic.
"That we will become even more," says Janik.
Also to be seen: Of the 28 million euros in the asset budget (2014), only a kind of minimum reserve is left.
"We have to concentrate on our core tasks," Janik urged and criticized the all too loose spending policy of previous city council bodies, without concealing the fact that he himself had been a member of them: "We have been denied many things that we previously took for granted". , he described the rude awakening in the term of office that has been running since 2020.
"We spent a lot of money," the mayor commented in particular on the 5 million euro loss of reserves in 2017-2018.
There is no escaping expenditure drivers such as constantly rising personnel costs, says Janik, referring to the constantly growing demands on his authority:
The subject of "See and the City" is also a topic at the citizens' assembly
But the head of the town hall also had positive things in his luggage: Without revealing any details, he said that the talks or negotiations with Deutsche Bahn to avoid a claim for damages against the city in the amount of 170 million euros were going “very constructively”, “but not yet through", it was still about the "legal plumbing work", said Janik, who at the same time indicated in this context that there was a "lucky accident that we slip into as far as the negotiation result is concerned".
The further procedure for the lake connection is absolutely dependent on this result: On the subject of “inner-city traffic concept” and the “See and the City” test balloon, which was hotly debated in public this summer, the head of the town hall said somewhat disarmingly to the audience:
Cycling ban on the lake promenade demanded
In the case of the inquiries and applications from citizens that followed the annual report, two were particularly noteworthy: Edith Jäger, member of the Inclusion Advisory Board, called for a general ban on cycling on the lake promenade and requested: "Return the lake promenade to its original meaning (namely as a promenade for pedestrians)!" A traffic-plagued resident of the lower Hanfelderstraße suggested changing the signage in front of the Tutzinger-Hof-Platz intersection, which has so far led traffic towards Fürstenfeldbruck and the A 96 motorway up the Hanfelder Berg, and directing cars and trucks straight ahead via the western bypass in future.
"A sensible suggestion," was the mayor's opinion, who did not even have to vote on many motions and suggestions: they were already "on the screen" or
are on the agenda of the competent bodies.
Janik's idea of even holding town meetings every six months will be put into practice as early as March 2023.
And the district citizens' meetings will follow anyway - a citizen from Wangen, who had come to the Brunnangerhalle with a whole package of applications, agreed to deal with his issues there and with a "then even better prepared" (Janik) mayor: "I'm convinced! At 11:07 p.m. a largely satisfied citizenry went home.
The mayor's toothache had apparently subsided.
who had come to the Brunnangerhalle with a whole package of applications, agreed to deal with his issues there and with a "then even better prepared" (Janik) head of town hall: "I'm convinced!" citizenship home.
The mayor's toothache had apparently subsided.
who had come to the Brunnangerhalle with a whole package of applications, agreed to deal with his issues there and with a "then even better prepared" (Janik) head of town hall: "I'm convinced!" citizenship home.
The mayor's toothache had apparently subsided.
