As of: March 18, 2024, 6:30 a.m
By: Christiane Mühlbauer
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Stefan Fadinger is the mayor's spokesman in the district.
The bureaucracy is sometimes nerve-wracking, says the Gaißacher.
© RBE/A
Mayors need thick skin these days.
Because the challenges are not getting any less - and criticism is often not objective.
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen
- A few days ago there was a stir across Bavaria that the mayor of Markt Schwaben, Michael Stolze, wanted to give up his office early.
The reasons he cites are threats and hostility in the course of a planned refugee accommodation and the associated work overload.
The mayors in the Tölzer Land also face such challenges.
Our newspaper asked some of them how they felt about the situation.
He never thought about quitting his job, “but the tone is generally getting rougher,” says Tölz Mayor Ingo Mehner.
The CSU politician has been in office since 2020.
He has not experienced any threats or hostility with criminal relevance either personally or on social media, although he has experienced “Bavarian expletives.”
In general, the workload in this office is high, demands and expectations are increasing.
Mehner cites building permits as an example.
It happens again and again that an applicant or neighbors “act massively”.
“When fears are involved, emotions often run high,” observes Mehner.
“I try to remain objective, but I can’t always do that.” He is also critical of the increasing regulations of the bureaucracy.
“What bothers me is that you can hardly implement anything quickly.
That often concerns me,” says Mehner.
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The longest-serving mayor in the Tölzer Land is Stefan Jocher in Schlehdorf.
He has been in office since 2002.
He says he hasn't experienced any threats yet, but he has experienced "strong Bavarian expressions."
The workload has “definitely increased” over the past 22 years, says Jocher, who does the job on a voluntary basis.
“The bureaucracy is constantly growing, despite all the assurances that it will be reduced.” For example, it used to be easier to get an appointment with employees in the district office, he gives another example, “and with authorities even higher up it has become even more difficult.” .
It is also annoying that the Free State takes so long to pay out funding.
“First they advertise the programs heavily, and then as a community you wait three years for money that is missing in other places in the budget in the meantime.”
Bichl's mayor Benedikt Pössenbacher was once threatened and he was also charged.
The investigations revealed no wrongdoing.
© arp/A
The mayor of Gaißach, Stefan Fadinger, also struggles with what he sees as the “oppressive bureaucracy”.
“Create living space quickly?
“That doesn’t work at all,” he complains.
Because everything takes so long, it becomes more and more expensive.
For example, a detail in the new kindergarten building would have “nerved him out”.
There is an old tree with a staircase winding around it.
A “risk assessment” was required for this.
“We want children to be able to be creative and have fun.” Fadinger has been mayor since 2012 and has also been spokesman for the mayors in the district since 2023.
“The demands of citizens have already increased,” he believes.
“It is expected that every email will be answered immediately.”
“You always act against someone”
When asked about the number of refugees and the situation in Markt Schwaben, Fadinger certainly sees parallels to the development in the Tölzer Land.
“Ultimately everything is dumped on the local councils.
We are the last in the chain,” he complains.
The traffic light government in Berlin is not reacting to the difficult situation in the municipalities.
It's not just about admission, but also about further integration, kindergarten places and long-term living space.
“No matter what a local council decides, you always act against someone,” says Fadinger.
“That is stressful.” At least there is a good relationship in the local family in the district.
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Stefan Jocher, mayor of Schlehdorf since 2002, occasionally hears “strong Bavarian expressions”.
© Seliger/A
All of the mayors surveyed by our newspaper report a good, constructive climate in their city or municipal councils, which supports them.
“The workload has increased dramatically in recent years,” says Benedikt Pössenbacher, Bichl’s voluntary town hall boss since 2008.
A few years ago he and his family were threatened over a property issue.
“I then immediately informed the police.”
Mayors in films are often unfairly portrayed as “clumsy”.
In 2016 he was accused of acting improperly in a tender.
The result was, among other things, a house search.
Pössenbacher was able to prove everything correctly, and two years later the public prosecutor's office dropped the case.
During these incidents, says Pössenbacher, he “already had problems with his office”.
Sometimes he also struggles with the media, says Bichler, for example when mayors are portrayed as “clumsy” in films.
“This is completely out of touch with reality.”
We now have to work well together in local politics so that the mood doesn't change, says Reichersbeuern's mayor Ernst Dieckmann.
© ps/a
Reichersbeuern's mayor Ernst Dieckmann, who has been in office since 2014, has not experienced any personal hostility.
Last fall, the administrative community decided to create accommodation for 250 refugees at Kranzer.
The social debate regarding refugees has “hardened,” says Dieckmann, “but after our decision I haven’t heard anything negative from the population.”
Right now it is important to work well in local politics “so that the mood doesn’t change.”
On social media, some have “unfortunately lost all decency,” regrets Dieckmann, who is also VG chairman.
“But here in the real world we have found a good level of discussion.” Why is that?
“I think where clubs still function and church and cultural life also has value, togetherness is greater than what divides us.”