Civil parties prevail in the Olten parliament: the successor project to the SIP is rejected
Previous results are not measurable enough, examine alternatives or sometimes more, sometimes less or no street work: There is great criticism of the continuation of the divided project of security, intervention and prevention. The deal is due to be reconsidered following its rejection in November.
Avoiding noise and littering, supporting scene-goers with their concerns and referring them to a suitable institution if necessary, and increasing the population’s subjective sense of security: the Security, Intervention and Prevention project, or SIP for short, should do this and more, especially in hotspots in the Oltner region inner city like Kirchgasse.
After the three-year pilot phase, the city council has changed its strategy: the areas of security and intervention and prevention are to be separated in the future. The functioning area of intervention and prevention should be expanded in the form of outreach social work or street work.
Since July, Securitas has been patrolling Kirchgasse, among other places. It is unclear whether the project will continue in 2025 after the deal was rejected.
Bild: Bruno Kissling
Since the beginning of June, a security service has been patrolling the city’s most important hotspots several times a week, and at the same time a lane office has started operating, which is open once a week for two hours. The city council has decided to definitely introduce the separation of street work and security from the beginning of 2025.
On the one hand, in the future there will be outreach social work. This costs 120,000 francs per year. In addition, there is a pure security service that will cost 105,000 francs annually. A total of 225,000 francs, 75,000 francs more than the annual pilot operation of the SIP cost.
SP wanted to double credit for street work
This division of tasks was generally not received badly in the local parliament on Wednesday evening. Nevertheless, there was a hail of criticism. The left half of the council emphasized the importance of street work in particular and was skeptical about the security service, while the citizens saw it exactly the other way around.
For the SP/Junge SP faction, outreach social work is a central element in supporting people in precarious life situations. She therefore wanted to double the loan for the street work to 240,000 francs. On the other hand, the party castigated the outsourcing of security to a private institution such as Securitas and clearly rejected a “disguised city police force,” as group spokesman Florian Eberhard put it.
Group spokesman Florian Eberhard.
Image: Patrick Luethy
The Greens made similar statements. Part of the group would like to put all its resources into street work, said spokesman Gian Baumann. But because the overall package is important and they don’t want to endanger it, they support the city council’s proposal.
FDP submitted a request for rejection
The citizens are different: For the SVP, which got the whole SIP pilot project rolling in the first place with a push for Ländiweg in 2017, the focus is on a greater sense of security for the population and thus a more lively city center. The security service is therefore a useful addition to the police, said parliamentary group spokesman Robin Kiefer. However, the party is skeptical about street work and rejects the corresponding loan.
The FDP was fundamentally critical of the project because there were no clearly measurable results and they had hoped for more from the SIP pilot project, as spokesman Christian Huber explained. The party therefore did not want to see the business discussed until the November meeting together with the other city council proposals. Until then, alternatives could be examined.
Christian Huber.
Image: zVg
City council opposes postponement
The city council and the left half of the council, who supported the deal, saw no point in postponing it until the November meeting. SP/Young SP parliamentarian Christine von Arx pointed out that it was an ongoing project that had to be continued. In addition, it is not a job deal and should therefore not be mixed with one.
Christine von Arx.
Image: zVg
The two responsible city councilors also spoke out against rejection. With a postponement, the agenda for the November meeting will become even longer, said Mayor Thomas Marbet. In addition, you usually bring in a business when it is ready for treatment and do not wait until the budget meeting – as happened with this one.
Raphael Schär-Sommer.
Bild: Bruno Kissling
And social director Raphael Schär-Sommer drew attention to the consequences: Addiction Help East, which is supposed to take over the street work with outreach social work through a service agreement, would not be ready at the beginning of 2025 if the business was only dealt with in the parliamentary session at the end of November. He also promised to include measurable criteria in the performance contract, thus responding to the previously expressed criticism.
Despite these reservations, the commoners narrowly prevailed. The deal was rejected by a vote of 18 to 17 and will be put back on the agenda at the double session on November 27th and 28th. Only the EPP representative Beat Bachmann, together with the left-wing factions, voted against a postponement.
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