Because it's more practical: Many town halls continue to favor appointments

Created: 10/17/2022, 06:00

By: Peter Borchers

Open doors: Even without corona restrictions, many town halls, like here in Königsdorf, stick to the principle of making appointments.

In most cases, however, it is optional, not mandatory.

Egling only makes an exception with the building authority. Many Wolfratshauers appreciate regulation by appointment Kopnicky emphasizes: City Hall is also open without an appointment © sh

If you want to settle a matter in your municipal administration, you no longer need an appointment in the district like at the peak of the pandemic.

However, many municipalities continue to offer this practice. 

Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen

– At the most recent meeting, Königsdorf’s CSU councilor Peter Hofberger wanted to know when the administration would think about opening the town hall to citizens again without making an appointment.

After all, the corona restrictions have long since been lifted.

With this question - and the clichéd and misplaced comparison between free enterprise and civil service - Hofberger drew the displeasure of his party colleague and mayor.

Rainer Kopnicky made it clear that party traffic is still regulated by the administration, not the municipal council.

The other municipalities in the district do the same, but by no means uniformly.

In Bad Tölz you only need an appointment for certain matters.

These include, in particular, "official business with time-consuming advice," explains city hall spokeswoman Birte Otterbach on request.

For example, anyone who has applications to the pension and social welfare office or would like building advice is asked to make an appointment in advance.

It's different in the residents' registration office, in the registry office and in the cemetery office.

Visitors can drop by here during normal opening hours.

"Beyond these times, appointments can be made by telephone," explains Otterbach.

Egling only makes an exception for the building authority

The Eglingen town hall suspended the obligation to make appointments with the registration and registry office when the first easing came into force.

This does not only apply to the building authority, which according to Hubert Oberhauser has “very well proven”.

Construction matters are more complex than applying for a new ID card, says the mayor, "and with an appointment, both sides can simply prepare much better for the topic".

You can see it in neighboring Dietramszell in a similarly relaxed way.

Citizens no longer have to register before entering the municipal administration.

"We are trying to get people to make an appointment," says Mayor Josef Hauser, if only to save citizens waiting.

But the doors are always open at the specified time, nobody has to ring the bell anymore.

"If someone shows up without an appointment, it's their turn, they may have to wait a bit and then they're pushed in between."

In Eurasburg, the town hall door is open to everyone, nobody is sent home.

However, waiting times are possible.

Moritz Sappl would therefore still like to make an appointment - because the mayor and his team "have had the best experience here and have only received positive feedback".

It's like at the doctor's: "You register, do your stuff and you're out again after 15 minutes." Some citizens were only "surprised" at first, but that has long since settled down.

The big advantage: According to Sappl, it can be clarified in advance which documents the citizen has to bring with him.

That saves a second way to the town hall.

The administrative community Benediktbeuern-Bichl thinks similarly.

"The appointment in the town hall has proven very useful during the pandemic, which is why we will keep it in the future," says Managing Director Michael Herrmann on request.

"People can come to us with their concerns without having to wait, and the colleagues in the building can prepare accordingly for the appointment," explains Herrmann.

Of course, no citizen will be sent away without an appointment, according to the manager.

However, there may be waiting times, as customers with an appointment have priority.

The Mayor of Icking, Verena Reithmann, sticks to the appointment - which is less due to the danger from Corona than to the "meanwhile thin staffing of the municipal administration".

"By making an appointment, it's just so much better work in the residents' registration and trade office and ultimately a so much better service for the citizens," says the mayor.

She also cites the possible agreement on which documents are to be brought along for the respective request as the main argument.

"My employees told me that it was much more effective." Also, "resident satisfaction hasn't decreased since we've been working with appointments" - especially since they can also be obtained at very short notice in Icking.

Reithmann: "If someone calls in the morning, a visit is usually possible on the same day."

In the Kochler town hall, the appointment is retained, as Mayor Thomas Holz reports on request.

"This system is very much appreciated by the colleagues in the house, because it is possible, for example, to plan enough time for more complex matters and not to have to constantly work under the pressure of other waiting people," says Holz.

The feedback from citizens was also consistently positive.

Before the pandemic, i.e. when it was still possible to come without an appointment, there would often have been a long queue, especially in front of the Citizens’ Registration Office.

"This was neither pleasant for the citizens nor for the colleagues in the building, since they worked under enormous time pressure and often felt the steadily deteriorating mood of those waiting," says Kochel's mayor.

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Nevertheless, even in Kochel, citizens do not have to go home without an appointment without having achieved something.

"But you may have to expect longer waiting times or you can arrange an appointment with the actual contact person through a colleague," says Holz.

Many Wolfratshauer appreciate regulation by appointment

The Wolfratshausen city administration opened its doors again very soon after the end of the corona restrictions.

But, as Managing Director Kerstin Vogeler puts it: "It's nice if you come with an appointment, because we can simply adapt better to the respective request." In addition, unnecessary waiting times can be avoided.

"And if it's too full, it can happen that you can't get through at all." According to Vogeler, the feedback from citizens is positive: many who were able to get their affairs done quickly after an appointment "also say that it's much more pleasant". .

Nevertheless, everyone – this applies to all departments – is allowed to enter the town hall without an agreement.

According to the managing director, more and more people are using it again.

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Geretsried is taking a stricter line, even though the city has "reacted appropriately" to the relaxation of the Corona regulations, as Managing Director Ute Raach emphasizes.

Strict access controls with the support of a security service would "no longer be carried out".

However, there is still the obligation to make an appointment if the citizen wants to settle passport matters, for example.

Because the administration has had good experiences with it and “received an amazing amount of positive feedback”, according to Raach, it should “continue to be handled in this way in the future”.

Appointments make sense when there is a high number of visitors;

these are primarily the specialist areas of citizen service with registration, registry office, trade office, building administration, tax office, pensions and social affairs.

Spontaneous visitors would, as far as time windows are still open,

“Of course also served.

However, this is no guarantee, as booked appointments have priority.” According to the managing director, waiting times can be almost entirely avoided with this approach.

"We even sometimes have negative waiting times - in other words, if the visitor arrives ahead of time and the previous appointment has already ended, they will be there earlier."

Kopnicky emphasizes: City Hall is also open without an appointment

And in Koenigsdorf?

There, the head of town hall, Kopnicky, felt compelled to issue a press release because of colleague Hofberger's advance.

In it he states "that the town hall has been open to party traffic again for two months".

However, appointments will continue to be used, "because these instruments have proven themselves and are very well received by many citizens".

A visit to the town hall is of course also possible without an appointment.

But then you have to be prepared for waiting times, especially in the residents' registration and passport office - "or you can make an appointment if all follow-up appointments for that day have already been booked".

In this context, the mayor asks all visitors to “wear an FFP2 or medical mask for their own protection and the protection of city hall employees”.

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