As of: January 31, 2024, 7:00 p.m
By: Veronika Ahn-Tauchnitz
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Josef-Niedermaier1.jpg © arp
These are not easy times for District Administrator Josef Niedermaier.
In the interview he talks about the social divide, the asylum court ruling, finances and explains why it is essential to reduce standards.
It feels like we are sliding from one crisis to the next.
What will be the biggest challenge this year?
Josef Niedermaier:
The global crises are now having a very noticeable social impact on us, so they are getting closer.
Society is still not aware that we cannot simply explain away and solve the crises with our local resources.
The differences run deeper.
And they've been around for a while, but now they're coming to the fore.
How specifically?
Josef Niedermaier:
Items are becoming scarce and are no longer available.
This was very difficult at times in construction – wherever there are globalized supply chains.
Of course, people wanted it for a long time because it was cheaper.
“Stinginess is cool” was a not insignificant advertising slogan and the motto for a generation.
In addition, we feel that society has little prepared for crises.
They were far away – both locally and spiritually.
For example, we are now building a disaster relief hall for a seven-figure amount - also to store materials.
Because up until now, who has kept camp beds in our country or thought about how to distribute food?
Over the last year, we have dealt intensively with the topic of blackouts and their consequences, for example how we distribute money when there is no more electricity.
2000 kilometers further in Ukraine you can see supermarkets running without electricity.
There will not always be more prosperity with less and less work.
District Administrator Josef Niedermaier
That was a lot of description of the condition.
But what do you think will be the biggest challenge this year?
Josef Niedermaier:
To strengthen cohesion in society.
People are now realizing that they personally have to take a step back.
The last few years have been absolute years of well-being.
There was always an increase in wealth.
Problems have been covered up with money - including the state.
It does not work anymore.
We will all have to make sacrifices.
There will not always be more prosperity with less and less work.
That will not work.
Politicians have to communicate this honestly.
Unfortunately, the “traffic light” does not manage to explain that some things are simply necessary and that there will and must be cuts - conveying that is the biggest challenge.
Can local politics actually help to counteract the division in society?
Josef Niedermaier:
The greatest weapon in democracy is not to use bans, but to constantly put arguments on the table and convince enough people who are willing to listen and think about what the best solution is.
We do this far too little, we debate far too little in a solution-oriented manner and are often not willing enough to compromise.
It is our job as politicians to say that we will now take a step back.
This is uncomfortable.
But if we want to maintain peace and freedom, we will have to cut back in some areas.
I'm someone who says that over and over again.
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How much do people attack you for this?
Josef Niedermaier:
A lot of things come from the Reich citizen scene with massive threats, and overall positions often harden very quickly.
It used to be more pleasant than it is now.
But complaining doesn't help.
The court ruling doesn't make it any easier.
District Administrator Josef Niedermaier
What people here are currently most concerned about is the issue of asylum accommodation.
Josef Niedermaier:
The problem is unresolved.
New assignments are coming.
Last week's court ruling doesn't make it any easier.
However, we have made good use of the time without any allocation from the government since the hailstorm to come up with new accommodation options.
For this I am very grateful to the mayors and local councils who actively support us here.
According to the ruling, there should be no direct allocations to communities without existing accommodation.
This means solidarity, mutual understanding and cohesion between the communities and the district office are even more in demand.
The court expressly confirmed the municipalities' obligation to cooperate in the acquisition of accommodation.
Obligation to cooperate also means, above all, finding and acquiring suitable accommodation or space.
In addition to Greiling, Dietramszell also sued against the allocation.
How do you feel about that?
Josef Niedermaier:
(sighs)
Solidarity looks different in my eyes.
But I don't want to dwell on that now.
It's not like nothing has happened since an allocation was announced.
Over 1,000 accommodation options are being prepared for this year.
Greiling – together with the VG communities – and Dietramszell also contributed.
This means that an immediate allocation would not have been an issue for them either.
Swam over it.
The court's decision is clear, and I hope that together we will solve the task set before us.
This is linked to the hope that people in Berlin will quickly realize that things cannot and must not continue like this!
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But where will this lead to accommodation?
There is already hardly any living space available, and a lot of money is also being invested in the construction of asylum accommodation.
Josef Niedermaier:
But what would be the alternative?
To squeeze all the people into one camp?
I would be happy to pass on the further question to Berlin!
We are at the end of our possibilities, if not already beyond it.
Regardless of asylum seekers, given the shortage of skilled workers, one has the feeling that things will no longer work without immigration.
Josef Niedermaier:
To be honest, we already knew before the refugee crisis that demographic change would be the biggest challenge.
People talked about it 15 years ago, but no one paid attention to it.
For a long time there was a failure to formulate a clear immigration law for skilled workers.
It's about saying clearly what anyone who wants to come to us must be able to do.
But it's also about making the person feel welcome.
In the confusion we have now: who will feel welcome there?
We definitely need immigration to maintain our prosperity.
But we are not an attractive country for immigration.
This means that you can calculate what problems future generations will face.
Some people still think that these are pencil sharpening jobs here in the district office.
District Administrator Josef Niedermaier
There is also a shortage of skilled workers in the district office.
This is currently becoming obvious at the youth welfare office.
Positions cannot be filled.
Josef Niedermaier:
We have advertisements for which we do not receive any applications.
The jobs in the youth welfare office are difficult because you are always the focus.
Today, social educators are often brought into business from the university; the previous path of first earning credit in the social service by looking after difficult families is no longer in great demand because there is an incredible amount of responsibility and emotional stress and strain behind it.
Added to this is politics that constantly complains about rising costs.
Which of course I somehow understand.
While the staff is decreasing, the tasks are increasing.
Josef Niedermaier:
Yes, they grow endlessly.
We are at a point where the guidelines simply can no longer be implemented.
In Germany we are managing ourselves to death if we think we have to regulate everything and anything.
There needs to be a social understanding that personal responsibility and the acceptance of mistakes are also part of it.
This is the only way we can push back the bureaucratic madness.
Keyword bureaucracy madness: How is this supposed to continue?
Josef Niedermaier:
We constantly identify the problem.
Some people still think that these are pencil sharpening jobs here in the district office.
But not at all.
There are tens of thousands of overtime hours because requirements are constantly increasing.
In the area of housing benefit, for example, applications have tripled due to the legal change.
The Youth Welfare Strengthening Act has good goals, but someone has to implement it.
For that alone we would need 20 or 30 more employees, but we can't find them.
The district administrators are really angry about this.
The district pays almost nine million euros for positions that the state would have to fill
It is also a fact that the district fills and pays for more state jobs itself every year because the state doesn't do it.
Josef Niedermaier:
We spent almost nine million euros on this last year.
But we cannot add more staff every year.
So there is only one solution: we reduce the standards and therefore need fewer staff.
Everything that is desired and promised is no longer possible.
At the moment, however, one has the feeling that the standards are constantly being built up...
Josef Niedermaier:
And that is the path to ruin.
But because I'm a confident person, I hope that a few people will come to their senses soon.
Especially in times of a weakening economy, the public sector should not skimp on investments
District Administrator Josef Niedermaier
The district budget has just been presented.
The finances aren't looking that bad.
Josef Niedermaier:
Not yet in 2024, 2025 will be bitter.
The tax capacity is decreasing and the obligatory services that we are forced to fulfill are increasing.
Everything will not be able to be regulated through digitalization.
Of course, a foreigner can submit a digital application, but at some point they need advice and are stuck on the phone.
And this applies not only to the immigration office, but also to many social areas.
The discussions began with a relatively low assessment rate for the district levy.
However, it is not realistic that it can be maintained.
Josef Niedermaier:
The budget is now balanced.
With everything that comes next, politicians will have to say how the additional expenses are to be covered.
More debt or more money from the municipalities – there are no other options.
Josef Niedermaier:
Right.
The additional debt may save tomorrow's district levy, but not the day after tomorrow because I have to take rising interest rates into account.
Of course, we have a certain potential for new debt because we have continuously reduced debt over the last 20 years and still invested heavily.
And especially in times of a weakening economy, the public sector should not skimp on investments.
Our approach is to extend the investment program over a few more years.
Since we have always put a lot into schools in the past, for example, this is possible.
There are few voluntary tasks in the district budget.
One of these is still local public transport.
There has already been talk about whether one or the other bus route is really needed...
Josef Niedermaier:
The expansion of public transport is the declared goal of the local transport plan that everyone has decided on.
The MVV expansion has now been implemented.
We will discuss lines when the new tender comes up.
Further expansion is rightly viewed critically at this point in time.
We'll have to postpone that.
However, we have done a lot in the past - also with the help of the Free State.
Now we first need the S-Bahn extension to Geretsried.
Do you really believe that it's still coming?
Josef Niedermaier:
I am an optimistic, confident person.
This is the most important transport project in the district.
However, buses will never run here down to the last corner.
Solutions with on-demand systems, i.e. on-demand transport, are therefore being considered.
What does that look like?
Josef Niedermaier:
We’re tackling that – including with working groups.
There are good models in Fürstenfeldbruck or in the Munich district.
Especially for communities like Dietramszell, such on-demand services are needed, similar to scheduled taxis.
I order a transport service, others do the same, it is summarized and coordinated via an app.
If there is a need, we drive.
We are currently considering what makes sense in our district and can be implemented reasonably affordably.
There will have to be cuts in the number of hospitals.
District Administrator Josef Niedermaier
The Wolfratshausen district clinic is still a large expenditure item in the budget.
Josef Niedermaier:
Yes, the post hurts.
Districts are too small to be able to organize inpatient care.
That is the basic evil.
With us, every district depends on its houses and trims them to achieve top performance in the competition.
This will not and cannot work - also because the staff will not be there for this number of houses.
Houses will close because of this shortage alone.
In addition, although everyone fights for the house locally, many don't go there.
The district clinic offers a large and very good range of medical services with a market share of 45 percent.
55 percent of those in the clinic's catchment area who could be treated there go elsewhere.
This is an uncomfortable truth that needs to be stated.
The implementation of the hospital financing reform will bring cuts for both hospitals in the district.
Josef Niedermaier:
Yes, for all basic supply houses.
There will have to be cuts in the number of hospitals.
This is an irrefutable fact because there will not and cannot be any more money in the system.
No EU country spends as much per capita on inpatient care as Germany and, overall, does not have the best quality of treatment by far.
This means there is a massive structural problem in the system.
For me, the conclusion is clear, but every time I mention it, I immediately have to put on a steel helmet.
But it will come down to exactly what was stated in the controversial Vicondo paper: the clinic will have to be converted into an outpatient health center.
Josef Niedermaier:
... additionally with inpatient follow-up care for patients who come from higher levels of care.
Yes.
In the Vicondo structural process, we developed the risks and options for action together with experts.
Simply gathering irrefutable facts led to emotions that completely put the entire process to sleep.
We could have been ahead of the situation if we had continued the process.
But that was prevented politically.
The Wolfratshausen health location is important.
Now many of the things we discussed back then as options for action are suddenly in law.
I said clearly back then what was possible and what should be done.
But there was no majority for my arguments.
Will you revisit the topic?
Josef Niedermaier:
In a remarkable process, the district clinic has developed a strategy for how it wants to independently shape its future.
The supervisory board unanimously approved this and commissioned the clinic to pursue this strategy.
Among other conditions, this can only succeed if the sometimes unobjective discussions, including about letters to the editor, finally stop and calm returns.
I can only advise everyone responsible to keep looking at the findings and statements from the Vicondo trial.
I for one do.
Do you actually want to continue doing this and run for office again in two years?
Josef Niedermaier:
I don't decide that alone.
We will analyze together what new impulses are needed and who can provide them for the future.
Then I start thinking about whether I dare do it again or not.
Whether I then run is a decision made by the group that supports me.
We will analyze the situation this year.
If reasons arise beforehand that make me decide that I can't or don't want to anymore, then I'll say so in good time.