Referendum in Wolfratshausen is expensive: That's the reason

Created: 10/22/2022, 7:45 p.m

By: Carl Christian Eick

Some positions are vacant in the Wolfratshausen town hall, and there are also numerous cases of illness.

As a result, an external service provider was commissioned to implement the referendum and the Council request on December 11th.

© Hans Lippert

In Wolfratshausen the citizens have the floor on December 11th.

The procedure is unexpectedly very expensive.

Wolfratshausen – The move of the Marienbrunnen in the direction of Marktstraße, which was decided by the city council with a large majority, has become a bone of contention in Wolfratshausen.

As reported, there will be a referendum on the third Sunday in Advent, December 11th.

In the meantime, it is also clear: the 15:4 decision by the city council to oppose the referendum on the same Sunday with a council request is lawful.

However, a new problem has arisen.

Referendum in Wolfratshausen is expensive: That's the reason

The three city councilors on the Wolfratshauser list, ex-mayor Helmut Forster, Dr.

Manfred Fleischer and Richard Kugler are declared opponents of the Brunnen transfer.

They initiated a citizens' initiative, which more than 2500 Wolfratshauser supported with their signatures.

The result: a referendum in which almost 15,000 eligible voters can answer the question on December 11: "Are you in favor of the ensemble of Marienbrunnen, Mariensäule and partnership plane trees remaining in place?"

Against this background, the proponents of the project in the city council decided to initiate a council request.

The question that the citizens should answer is: "Are you in favor of the old town being upgraded in the course of the redesign of Marktstraße (...) by moving the Marienbrunnen fountain forward, while at the same time keeping the plane trees in place ?” Since it is possible that both questions are answered with a majority of yes, there is also a key question: “Which decision should then apply?”

Council request: Legal supervision has nothing to complain about the decision

As reported, City Councilor Fleischer had expressed doubts about the legality of the pro-council request decision.

Town hall boss Klaus Heilinglechner (citizens' association Wolfratshausen/BVW) then asked the legal supervisory authority at the district office to check - which confirmed the legality of the decision.

"There were no formal errors in the decision-making process and therefore nothing to complain about," Heilinglechner announced at the city council meeting last Tuesday.

So nothing stands in the way of the referendum and the council request.

The city uses an external service provider to implement the referendum and the council request.

Mayor Klaus Heilinglechner

The procedure is similar to that of a local election, according to the head of the town hall in an interview with our newspaper.

But: Due to the tense personnel situation in the city administration - vacancies and currently numerous cases of illness - the decision was made: "For the implementation of the referendum and the council request, the city uses an external service provider." Postal voting documents sent by post.

You then have the opportunity to cast your vote by post - alternatively you can use the polling stations in the district of Weidach, in the elementary and middle school on Hammerschmiedweg in the city center and in the school in Waldram.

In this case, you must present the polling card and ID card to the election workers.

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Each ballot sent out costs 1.60 euros postage

The commissioning of an external service provider "of course makes the whole thing more expensive," said Hubert Bernwieser, head of the town hall's public safety and order department, at the most recent city council meeting.

Each ballot sent out must be stamped with 1.60 euros - the return is free of charge for those entitled to vote.

There are almost 15,000 voters, that's around 24,000 euros for postage alone.

The other side of the coin: "The administration is relieved considerably, at the same time the citizens have the opportunity to use the postal vote without having to apply," says Mayor Heilinglechner.

According to him, Pullach, Mittenwald and Würzburg, among others, already use a "central, efficient service provider" to carry out referendums.

On the one hand, it turned out that voter turnout was very high.

With a view to Pullach, Bernwieser spoke of more than 60 percent.

In addition, according to the head of the town hall, "experience has shown that the quorum of 20 percent minimum participation is reached".

A referendum is only considered decided when the majority meets the approval quorum.

This depends on the population of the municipality.

In the case of Wolfratshausen (fewer than 50,000 inhabitants), the 20 percent rule applies.

(cce)

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