As one of the last candidates for the local council and mayoral election on March 10th, Florian Kreibich (ÖVP) will present his program on Monday morning. After the incumbent mayor of the city of Salzburg, Harald Preuner, retires from politics at the age of 64, Florian Kreibich is running as the top candidate for the ÖVP. Today’s program presentation officially marks the start of the ÖVP’s election campaign, for which the party plans to spend 375,000 euros.
It is clear to Kreibich that jumping into the mayor’s chair will not be easy. With his “good contacts in the state and also other mayors” and as the “only political force in the middle,” he sees good opportunities for himself. In addition, the Salzburg native’s list of ideas for what should happen in the next five years is long: In his “AZ for Salzburg” he and his team recorded 118 points – but two points particularly stand out: childcare and care.
70 percent subsidized housing target in the city of Salzburg
In addition to the SPÖ, the Citizens’ List (the Greens of the city of Salzburg) and the KPÖ, the city’s ÖVP also placed affordable housing at the top of the election campaign. Although the last count of the city’s population showed a decline, Kreibich assumes that 165,000 people will live in the city of Salzburg by 2044.
In order to create enough living space, the ÖVP top candidate wants to build 10,000 rental and condominium apartments in the city over the next five years. According to local councilor Christoph Brandstätter, almost 1,800 of these should be funded. In the long term, i.e. over the next 20 years, the proportion of subsidized apartments should grow to 70 percent, says Kreibich.
ÖVP wants to expand child care
Another issue that the city ÖVP is prioritizing in the election campaign is child care. The city ÖVP wants to create a special budget of around 140 million euros. This is intended to finance the “Children’s Future Fund”. Christina Dorner, the 36-year-old Chamber of Commerce employee and ÖVP newcomer, focuses on the small children: “I registered my children for the toddler group when they were still in their tummy. That can’t be.”
In addition to the existing 1,000 places in a toddler group, 300 more places are to be created in the next five years, and more if “needed”. In addition to building new facilities, Dorner wants to invest twelve million euros for a “crawl check”. This means that families who have placed their one to three-year-old children in playgroups will receive 200 euros per month – regardless of income.
Care as an elective program item
“In addition to the youngest, we also have to pay attention to the older generation,” said Delfa Kosic, deputy chairwoman of the Social Committee, moving on to the next election program item. In addition to recruiting new nursing staff, the ÖVP primarily wants to promote mobile services and day centers. “People should be able to live in their own four walls for as long as possible without relatives having to take care of the elderly at home. Women in particular are burdened twice,” says Kosic. However, no concrete figures were given at the press conference as to how much would be funded.
Security and integration via voice
According to Kreibich, after the recent acts of violence in Lehener Park, there should be no false tolerance when it comes to security. A round table has been announced to work on how the feeling of security in the city of Salzburg can be improved. In the long term, however, the ÖVP member sees a need to revise the integration concept: “Integration is best done through language and not through a list of the last ten federal presidents.” Kreibich rejects another public order office, such as his own city guard.
Kreibich on the S-Link: Decision open
Finally, the “emotional issue of traffic” was also addressed at the press conference, particularly the multi-million dollar “S-Link” project. During test drilling for the planned regional light rail, cracks appeared to appear in houses in the old town. “The cracks are of course to be taken seriously, but you have to question where they come from. Do you come from the test drillings or other construction sites? Only when this question has been clarified can construction begin,” says Kreibich.
The native of Salzburg sees the S-Link as a “no alternative project”. Nevertheless, he doesn’t want to prevail at any cost against the majority of the city’s population. First he wants to wait for the rural population to vote in the spring. Whether the S-Link will then be implemented permanently remains an open question for the city ÖVP.
Florian Kreibich was rescued in Salzburg on April 9, 1969 and grew up in the Parsch district. He has been a municipal councilor for the city of Salzburg since July 3, 2019. After the previous deputy mayor Barbara Unterkofler had to take time off due to illness, Kreibich was sworn in as deputy a month before the mayoral election.
(Source: SALZBURG24)
2024-02-05 14:11:23
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