As of: January 19, 2024, 7:00 p.m
By: Sandra Sedlmaier, Peter Schiebel, Tobias Gmach
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Not only feels comfortable on the parquet: District Administrator Stefan Frey with his wife Ismene at the Black and White Ball of the Pöckinger Carnival Club (PFC) last weekend in Beccult.
© Andrea Jaksch
District Administrator Stefan Frey spoke to Starnberger Merkur about his future, that of the hospitals in the Starnberg district, jobs for refugees and other topics.
District – What will 2024 bring for the district?
The Starnberger Merkur spoke to District Administrator Stefan Frey about the central issues this year.
The 48-year-old was presented with future forecasts which he agreed with, disagreed with or classified.
He had a clear answer to a thesis that affects him personally: Stefan Frey wants to remain district administrator in Starnberg beyond 2026, even if he has been in demand primarily as a crisis manager in his term of office so far.
But Frey takes it calmly: “The crisis has become normal.”
Assertion 1: After the accommodation of refugees took place relatively quietly in 2023, the issue will come into greater focus again in 2024.
Frey assumes that more refugees will come to the Starnberg district this year, but also says: “The main task will be to integrate the people if they stay with us longer.” The district wants additional capacity by building new shared accommodation in Etterschlag (Blumenfeld), Feldafing (GIZ site) and Tutzing (Klosterwiese) - and by expanding the existing container facilities in the other eleven communities.
As reported, Gilching and Starnberg (for the Percha accommodation) have already signaled their approval, but Inning rejects an expansion.
The district administrator wants to continue to meet the acceptance rate of 100 percent.
It is currently at 99 percent, he explains.
It is particularly important to Frey that the newcomers work as quickly as possible.
Together with the economic development agency gwt, the job center and the employment agency, he is planning a job fair specifically for refugees in the first quarter.
“It is an attempt beyond all guidelines to bring young people into contact with local businesses,” he explains.
As a motivational aid, the district administrator can imagine processing the asylum procedures as a priority if they are seriously interested.
He is surprised by his success.
“If we only place five or ten people, something has already been achieved.” Regarding possible language barriers, Frey says: “I believe that you learn German better at work than in courses that are already taken.”
Claim 2: The realization of a new clinic building in Herrsching will not progress any further in 2024.
In general, the future of the clinics is completely open.
In the summer of 2023, the district put plans for the new clinic building in Herrsching on hold - due to the uncertainties caused by the announced hospital reform.
Frey wants to avoid the impression that nothing is happening anymore.
“We are working on how we can prepare for the possible effects of the clinic reform.” The aim is for a possible central hospital in the district to best harmonize with the key points of the reform known so far.
The background is service groups that clinics are supposed to offer at one location.
However, the district administrator appeals to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and Co. to also include clinics with two locations.
“Starnberg and Herrsching are only 20 minutes apart,” he says.
To be on the safe side, he conducted further property negotiations in Herrsching - to create options.
Because it is also about how the district copes “structurally and structurally” with the requirements of the reform.
Regarding the status of the negotiations, he says: “We are on the right track.” In total, there is another 25,000 square meters of land - in addition to the more than 20,000 square meters on Seefelder Straße that were previously earmarked as buildable area.
Basically, the district administrator criticizes that the reform makers do not take local circumstances into account enough and want to “overturn a system from one day to the next”.
Frey: “Federal politics are far too far away.” But it is undisputed that something has to happen.
This year, Frey expects to have to support the district's own clinic holding company with 29 million euros in loan repayments, deficit compensation and investment grants.
Whatever happens: “The decisions have implications for the next 50 to 60 years.
A future-proof orientation of our Starnberg clinics is the top priority for the health care of our district and to secure the many jobs.”
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Claim 3: The district's debt will grow beyond its head this year and in the next few years.
The abolition of the flat rate for sports clubs is followed by further cuts.
“We have already cut almost all of the truly voluntary services,” says Frey.
“There aren't many atrocities anymore.” However, the financial resources at the local level are getting worse and worse.
“At some point this will become a problem for the state and federal government,” says Frey.
Claim 4: The district can hardly keep up with its tasks because the federal and state governments are delegating more and more issues and at the same time it is becoming increasingly difficult to find staff.
“I agree with that,” Frey says clearly – and cites several examples.
“Five to six administrative staff in the district office are busy with refugee accommodation alone.” He also alludes to the “Clean Vehicles Procurement Act”.
It stipulates that when purchasing new buses, public clients must purchase at least 45 percent of the vehicles without a classic combustion engine by the end of 2025.
“That suddenly costs us two thirds more.
I put that on hold.
We don't have the money.
Period,” says the district administrator unequivocally.
When it comes to wind power, the new requirements from politicians and higher administrative levels are now so complex that only specialist offices can handle the requirements.
“We are finding fewer and fewer specialists,” emphasizes Frey.
The district office currently has almost 600 employees and around 20 positions are vacant.
In this context, the district administrator is also concerned about the ever-increasing fluctuation.
There are increasingly numerous job changes within a year due to the volatile labor market.
Claim 5: The district will cancel more bus routes - due to a shortage of bus drivers and to avoid wrong-way trips.
“Painting or converting lines depends on student transport,” says the district administrator.
The main thing is to “trim the lines for efficiency”.
This could mean that individual stops will be eliminated.
This is probably already happening as part of the tender for the lines on the eastern shore of Lake Starnberg, which is due this year.
However, entire lines are not up for grabs, emphasizes Frey.
Due to a lack of passenger numbers, Frey can currently completely dispense with the express bus line X920 from Fürstenfeldbruck via Gilching and the Kraillinger Innovation Mile (KIM) to the Klinikum Großhadern subway stop.
“This could save us 700,000 to 800,000 euros a year.” The line is contractually bound until the timetable change in December 2024.
Whether it will be shut down in 2025 also depends on whether the district would have to repay state funding in that case.
This still needs to be clarified, says Frey.
He then wants to submit a corresponding proposal to the district council committees.
The district administrator is annoyed by bus companies who want to negotiate more money into current contracts - on the grounds that they could then hire more drivers.
“They don’t get a cent more because they could have taken the costs into account when they signed the contract two or three years ago.” But you can talk about old contracts.
But the quality has to be right in the future.
Claim 6: Stefan Frey will declare in the course of 2024 that he is running for a second term as district administrator in the 2026 local elections.
No, he's already telling the Starnberger Merkur.
“As things stand today, I will run again in 2026,” emphasizes the 48-year-old, who succeeded Karl Roth after the 2020 local elections.
“It's no secret that I enjoy the job, even if the topics don't get any less.” The aim of his work is to maintain prosperity in the region as much as possible.
However, given the financial situation, Frey also emphasizes: “We all have to lower our demands.”