Members of “For the dignity of our cities” met in Offenbach

Kaiserslautern, March 13, 2023

Representatives of the financially weak cities met in Offenbach and talked about the consequences of the crises and the necessary solutions. Her message to the federal and state governments: “Time is of the essence”.

The municipal conference of the action alliance “For the dignity of our cities” in Offenbach was associated with bad news for at least one in ten people in Germany: In the member cities and districts from the Baltic Sea to Saarland, in which more than 8.5 million people live, the financial situation has deteriorated again. The numerous crises are threatening the successes that the municipalities have achieved with great effort in recent years. “The old debt solution promised in the coalition agreement and currently being negotiated in Berlin must therefore come about urgently. The talks between the federal and state governments must not fail,” said Christoph Gerbersmann, spokesman for “For the Dignity of Our Cities”. “The situation is getting dramatically worse for the municipalities due to the rising interest rates, time is of the essence! In addition, there must be a reform of the subsidy program jungle and a clear signal against tax havens in Germany.”
64 municipalities from seven federal states have joined forces in the non-partisan action alliance. What they have in common is that they have become financially weak through no fault of their own as a result of structural change and tasks that the federal and state governments have assigned to them, but have not adequately compensated financially. While other cities and municipalities can invest in future issues, those affected have to pay for repayment and interest. The representatives of the local authorities also see the fact that the great efforts to reduce debt could have been in vain as a threat to social peace on site. This became clear at the municipal conference in Offenbach, which was also attended by Deputy Peter Kiefer and Head of Finance Claudia Toense for Kaiserslautern.
The hosts used their city as an example to explain why a federal debt solution is so important. “For Offenbach, the fight for fair equipment for the municipalities is very important. If the federal government were to take over our share in the Hessenkasse, we would have three million euros more at our disposal every year,” said Offenbach’s mayor, Dr. Felix Schwenke. It costs the city a lot of money to make this contribution itself, which it could use to improve the quality of life of the people in our city, for example for the renovation of school buildings, buses or sports facilities. Schwenke: “Since the lack of money affects all areas, it always means a lot more work for us than in other cities to be and remain attractive for companies. The joint struggle in the action alliance is therefore important in order to secure the position of our city in the long term and to avoid a downward spiral.”
“For the dignity of our cities” will continue to make the urgency of the problems public in the coming weeks – in talks in Berlin and the state capitals as well as with attention-grabbing campaigns. For them, the alliance is known because, for example, it went to the party headquarters in the capital with an oversized donkey figure that was being forced to its knees by sacks.

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Members of the action alliance are Bochum, Bottrop, Brandenburg an der Havel, Castrop-Rauxel, Cottbus, Cuxhaven, Dietzenbach, Dinslaken, Dorsten, Dortmund, Duisburg, Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, Essen, Frankenthal, Geestland, Gelsenkirchen, Ginsheim-Gustavsburg, Gladbeck , Hagen, Hamm, Hattingen, Herne, Kaiserslautern, Koblenz, Krefeld, Lahnstein, Leverkusen, Löhne, Ludwigshafen, Lünen, Mainz, Mayen, Mettmann, Moers, Mönchengladbach, Mörfelden-Walldorf, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Neuwied , Oberhausen, Obertshausen, Offenbach, Pirmasens, Recklinghausen, Recklinghausen district, Remscheid, Saarbrücken, Salzgitter, Schwerin, Schwerte, Solingen, Trier, Unna district, Voerde, Völklingen, Waldbröl, Werne, Wesel, Wesel district, Witten, Worms, Wülfrath, Wuppertal and Zweibruecken.
“For the dignity of our cities” has nine spokespersons: Dr. Rico Badenschier, Mayor of Schwerin, Dirk Glaser, Mayor of Hattingen, Burkhard Mast-Weisz, Mayor of Remscheid, Prof. Dr. Uwe Schneidewind, Lord Mayor of the City of Wuppertal, Barbara Meyer, First Mayor and Treasurer of the City of Saarbrücken, Andrea Pospich, Treasurer of the City of Cuxhaven, Christoph Gerbersmann, First Deputy and City Treasurer of the City of Hagen and Martin Murrack, City Manager and City Treasurer of the City of Duisburg.

Author: “For the dignity of our cities” – press office