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This bang changes local politics in Freiensteinau more than last Sunday's elections: Mayor Sascha Spielberger (independent) is not running for a third term in office in the election on August 23rd.
Freiensteinau – On the Monday after the municipal election was counted, the town hall boss informed his employees, then he telephoned the parliamentary group leaders and on Tuesday morning he sent out a press release. The content: The 49-year-old will not run for a third term in the mayoral election on August 23rd. As recently as October, he told our newspaper that he could “imagine running as a candidate for mayor a third time.”
Mayor Sascha Spielberger in Freiensteinau is no longer running
He was more reserved in a recent conversation when he postponed a statement until after the local elections. At this point, he apparently had doubts that “after careful and careful consideration” led to his rejection of his candidacy. The decision was not easy for him because he is “particularly connected to our community, the people and the town hall,” as Spielberger writes. In the interview, he added that the topic “occupied him for a few weeks”. But he “couldn’t specifically name” what exactly made him change his mind.
The mayor, who lives in Gunzenau, learned the administrative business from the ground up in Freiensteinau, was at times the main office manager, responsible for the public order office and finances and finally replaced his “foster father” and current honorary mayor Friedel Kopp (FW) a good eleven years ago.
The reasons given by Spielberger for the surprising step are that “the time has come for me to consciously begin a new professional and personal phase.” When asked, he didn't give any details, but: “There is a plan, but I will only announce it in due course.” Whether it is a job in an administration or in the private sector “remains to be seen.”
Mayor criticizes the municipalities' lack of creative freedom
For him, there is also a “second, equally important point. I came into this office to shape our community, initiate developments and, together with politicians, administration and citizens, make the future possible locally. However, it is precisely this scope for design that has become noticeably smaller for municipalities in recent years. The state and federal government are increasingly assigning additional tasks to the municipalities, raising standards and formulating new expectations – without the financing being permanently and adequately secured.”
Whatever the state or federal government decides must “ultimately be implemented, organized, explained and paid for locally”. Spielberger considers it “problematic when we always have to convey new stresses to the local people, even though the actual causes often lie outside the community. The disappointment then hits those who bear responsibility here locally; both full-time and voluntary.”
Spielberger expressly praises “the very good working atmosphere in our administration and the constructive, reliable and collegial cooperation in the community committees. Such cooperation is not a given – it is the result of our joint work. I am extremely grateful for this cooperation. In the end it made this decision even more difficult.”
“I think it's a shame. Now we're faced with a new challenge,” says GBE parliamentary group leader Michael Muth. He can understand the reasons given and sees Spielberger's decision with both a crying and a laughing eye: “Crying because there is a change, which brings with it uncertainty and an opportunity. Laughing because I'm happy for him that he has the courage to do something new professionally again. That's positive.”
Paul Heid makes similar comments. The SPD parliamentary group leader calls Spielberger's reasons “understandable, both in terms of the personal and the political argument.” Now we have to work quickly when it comes to preparing for the mayoral election: “There’s not much time left.” “I regret his step, but it is understandable if he wants to change,” agrees FW parliamentary group leader Hajo Pöhl with his colleagues. It is “highly to his credit that he has brought the community together and also seeks balance between the factions”.
A well-known face in Freiensteinau 101-year-old Hans Döpping, who regularly organizes his literary five o'clock tea.
