As of: February 1, 2024, 3:12 p.m
By: Bernhard Jepsen
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Split
The young citizens' meeting took place in Juze.
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The district has massive financial problems.
As part of the budget consolidation, savings will now be made, among other things, in personnel cost support for the youth centers.
The Peißenberg Juze would also be affected - much to the displeasure of Mayor Frank Zellner and the local council.
Peißenberg - It really doesn't happen often that the local councilors from "CSU/Non-Party" applaud when Matthias Bichlmayr, the parliamentary group spokesman for Alliance 90/The Greens, speaks in the market council.
But in the most recent committee meeting, the Christian Socialists had no choice but to jump over their shadow.
Bichlmayr praised Mayor Frank Zellner (CSU) for his criticism of the planned cancellation of personnel cost funding for the youth centers.
Criticism of planned deletions
As reported, the district wants to withdraw from financing open youth work.
For Bichlmayr, it's a "sad matter": The fact that a district - "which has done suboptimally in the past" - would first of all use the austerity hammer to target a "soft opponent" like young people is incomprehensible and simply "cruel".
After all, the young people couldn't defend themselves.
The austerity announcement is a serious blow, especially for Peißenberg, because the “offerings” for the target group in the town are “not exactly outstanding”.
But why did Bichlmayr praise the mayor?
Shortly before Christmas, Zellner wrote a letter to district administrator and party colleague Andrea Jochner-Weiß.
In it, he rejects the district's termination of the contract to support personnel costs for the youth center, which was only agreed at the end of June 2023.
In his argument, the town hall boss refers to Article 30 AGSG (Law on the Implementation of Social Laws).
This requires the districts to support their municipalities in the fulfillment of public youth welfare as bearers of overall responsibility and, if necessary, to contribute financially to the development of a needs-based range of services.
According to Zellner, the contract to support personnel costs was concluded on exactly this legal basis.
In the letter to the district administrator, Zellner asks the district administrator to urgently withdraw the termination – “in the interest of good social integration and educationally valuable support for our young people”.
District insists on termination
As Zellner confirmed in an interview with the local newspaper, the town hall has already received a reply from the district administrator - but with unpleasant content from Peißenberg's point of view.
The district therefore insists on terminating the contract.
The district administrator interprets Article 30 AGSG to the effect that the district would only be obliged to financially support open youth work if the municipality had exhausted its entire scope for action but would then still not be able to finance the youth work.
In plain language this means: The market would first have to set all of its voluntary benefits to zero.
For Zellner, this is not a logical explanation - “because then the district would never have been allowed to start the financial aid.”
And they were never allowed to conclude the contract in June 2023.
After the district administrator's rebuff, Zellner still hopes to be able to negotiate a "compromise" with the district office: "I will also bring the topic into the budget discussions in the district council."
And if there will be no “compromise”?
The termination was given with effect from January 1, 2025.
This year everything is still running normally at the Peißenberger Juze.
But after that there could be significant cuts.
According to Zellner, the positions of Juze director Julia Schäfer and her colleague Wolfgang Schaur are “not in danger”.
However, there could be cuts in temporary staff and opening times.
Without support from the district, said Zellner, the market would not be able to maintain the youth center offerings to the usual extent.