Greens provide the mayoress in Offenbach

• ofAnnette Schlegl

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The traffic light coalition in Offenbach has redistributed the departments. Mayor Schwenke (SPD) will have a wife as deputy in the future: Sabine Groß (Greens) is now the mayor.

The will to change many things for the better in Offenbach is great, but the financial means are small. These are the premises for the coalition agreement that the SPD, Greens and FDP signed on Monday in the Parkside Studios on the former Allessa site. The new traffic light coalition also announced the distribution of responsibilities for the next five years. The department carousel has turned vigorously: The Greens now provide the mayor, the Social Democrats the city treasurer, the Free Democrats the city planner, who is now also the head of the regulatory affairs department.

Mayor Felix Schwenke (SPD) will in future have a woman as a permanent general representative by his side: the previous city councilor Sabine Groß (Greens) is now the mayor. She replaces Peter Freier (CDU), who took over the post from Peter Schneider (Greens) on September 7, 2018. So the office is again in the green hands.

The mayor’s department includes the areas of environment, traffic and mobility, the housing department and the health department. Youth and day-care centers remain “green” topics. In order to achieve the traffic turnaround and equality of all road users, an organizational unit of mobility will be created, said Greens parliamentary leader Sybille Schumann.

City treasurer at 35

The social welfare office and the local job center Mainarbeit are moving from the Greens to the SPD and thus to the parliamentary group leader Martin Wilhelm, who is now 35 years old and is a department head and city treasurer. He takes over the combing from the previous mayor Peter Freier (CDU). The city of Offenbach (ESO) with its municipal services, the citizens’ office and the non-profit construction company (GBO) will also be subordinate to him in the future.

Paul-Gerhard Weiß (FDP) has handed over the environmental office to the Greens, but is getting the regulatory office together with the “Clean Offenbach” department, for which the CDU was previously responsible. In addition, Weiß remains head of the department for urban planning as well as education with schools and adult education centers.

Economic development is still a top priority: Lord Mayor Felix Schwenke is also responsible for this department in the new electoral term.

The coalition agreement has 40 pages

The formation of a coalition was “no walk in the park,” said Green spokeswoman Birgit Simon. “The parties separated themselves from each other in the election campaign, had to first pull themselves together.” More than 40 appointments were necessary. The result is a 40-page work entitled “Shaping a city on the move”.

It will not be easy in the coming years, the party representatives indicated at the press conference. A huge budget gap hovers like a sword of Damocles over the coalition agreement. “We made a cash fall. The financial gap will be around 18 to 20 million euros in 2024, ”said SPD leader Christian Grünewald. The reason for the medium-term million hole is the property tax cut that took place in winter. That means a shortfall in income of 4.5 million euros per year. The cost increases in local public transport – buses run with fewer passengers in the Corona crisis – also have an impact on the financial situation.

Inner city should be revitalized

They want to “prevent as much as possible,” said Grünewald. The traffic light coalition therefore wants to save, relocate new companies and fight with the state and federal government for the money that the city is entitled to. The coalition agreement is subject to a financing reservation, contains “things that we want to do and things that we will do,” said FDP chairman Oliver Stirböck. Economic settlement is the prerequisite.

The inner city is a matter close to the heart of the coalition. The move of the city library and the Kosmopolis department store with food market should bring more traffic there, create a “green belt” with more quality of stay. A public participation agency is set up and an apartment security agency is set up so that people do not lose their homes. A new women’s shelter is to be built, as well as a high school at the freight yard. To ensure that living remains affordable, 30 percent subsidized living space is earmarked for construction.