Irschenberg's mayor, Klaus Meixner, has settled into his office. The leap to mayor was a change – despite the experience of eleven years as a deputy. © THomas Plettenberg
Halfway through the first term of office of the new mayors: We take this as an opportunity to take stock with the town hall chiefs. This time in conversation: Klaus Meixner from Irschenberg.
Irschenberg – After the unexpected death of Mayor Hans Schönauer on 31 January 2019, Irschenberg had to hold new elections. Second Mayor Klaus Meixner (64, CSU), Third Mayor Hans Nirschl (58, FWG Irschenberg) and Marcus Hermann (44, FDP/Active Citizens) competed – Meixner (52.4%) won the race in the first round of voting. His first four years as head of the town hall are marked by consolidation. Since the announcement of the gravel mining plans in Oberhasling, it is not only the citizens' initiative that has been calling on the community to be more willing to engage in dialogue and have a say.
Mr. Meixner, you were second mayor under Hans Schönauer for eleven years and then suddenly head of the town hall yourself. Was that a big step?
Klaus Meixner: It was quite a big change. As a second mayor, you are much further away from the action. After all, you are only in the town hall occasionally and not every day.
"First workshop, then town hall"
What was it like in the period after Schönauer's death, when you were in office until the election?
Klaus Meixner: The most brutal thing is that no one was there to ask. At that time, we did what had to be done. At the same time, I also had my carpentry business. In the morning I first went to the workshop, then to the town hall. But it was a shock for everyone.
How long did it take you to get into office?
Klaus Meixner: It takes a year to get in. My experience as Second Mayor helped me not to start from scratch. But every day it's a completely different challenge. because the tasks are so diverse.
What challenged you the most?
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Klaus Meixner: There are actually many parallels to the self-employed. You have to make decisions. Especially the time with Corona was totally new – there were no empirical values. But we teamed up with kindergarten and school and coped well.
What has changed the most for you personally?
Klaus Meixner: (laughs) I don't get as wet at work as I used to.
With the application for gravel mining in Oberhasling, an issue was added that is causing unrest. Was this foreseeable?
Klaus Meixner: No. There has never been such an application in Irschenberg. In the past, there were small projects by farmers for their own use, but never on a commercial basis as they are now. The waves that this made were also unpredictable for us. But I still wouldn't do anything differently.
Since gravel mining has become a public issue, openness and transparency have been demanded from the municipality. A difficult task?
Klaus Meixner: It's a matter of time – it has changed. There was no such thing in the past in the days of Hans Schönauer. That was not required either. People came to the town hall and they talked. At that time, I didn't feel that the church wasn't present. I think this also applies to other municipalities. We also had our town hall open to citizens during Corona times. We were more flexible than others.
Today, communication is an important topic.
Klaus Meixner: The basis comes from the citizens' initiative. Since they have existed, it has become more difficult. But we have discussed in the local council that we are working on it. We have now also commissioned someone to be active for the community and support them in showing what is going on – also on Facebook and Instagram. Let's see if that's found okay.
A lot of it is uncharted territory, you say. Does this also apply to the sewage treatment plant?
Klaus Meixner: Yes. One of the first orders of my tenure was the sewage treatment plant. The announcement from the water management office was clear: without the start of planning for a new building, no further approval. It started back in 2016. Schönauer wanted the connection to Götting, but their network did not allow that. When I was in office, there were further discussions with the result that I had to build a new one. So we only do what is forced on us. The planner received seven million euros from us as a cost limit. He has to stick to that.
What's next for the local model? Will there be procurement rules in Irschenberg like in Fischbachau?
Klaus Meixner: Such a set of rules is an issue – we will examine it. With the Leitzachfeld, we have an area in planning. In this case, we will deal with the criteria. Regardless of whether it follows the Fischbachau pattern or otherwise, the regulations will be universally applicable.
What should Irschenberg look like in 2026?
Klaus Meixner: Projects such as the sewage treatment plant should be up and running, and the community should continue to do well – with a normal quality of life, with a club life that works, and volunteers. All of this supports us and cohesion. But it's also clear that you can't please everyone.
This is how opponent Hans Nirschl (FWG Irschenberg) assesses Meixner's work
In the 2019 election, which ran out of schedule, Hans Nirschl (FWG Irschenberg) achieved the second-best result with a percentage, behind Klaus Meixner (CSU) and ahead of Marcus Hermann (FDP/Active Citizens, 10.0%). At our request, he assesses the work of the election winner so far:
"It's not really up to me to judge it, because in the end only those who are responsible can really judge it. However, it can already be said that Klaus Meixner had difficult years at the start - especially with the challenges of the Corona pandemic. Regardless of this, there are also major tasks to be mastered.
I hope that the mayor will be able to bring together the valuable work of the municipal council with the commitment of the citizens – with the aim that in the end the entire municipality of Irschenberg will benefit greatly from it. Overall, it strikes me that the flow of communication in the community has suffered. I therefore also hope that the citizens will once again be properly informed about what is going on in Irschenberg. This is especially true for the issues that directly and immediately affect them themselves."
At half-time
Halfway through the first term of office of the new mayors: We take this as an opportunity to take stock with the town hall chiefs. If available, candidates who were defeated in the election should also have their say.
DDY
