Lord Mayor Sven Schulze on filling the position of Deputy Head of Department 5
Lord Mayor Sven Schulze refused to give his consent to the election of Dr Axel Bruder after yesterday's election of the alderman in the current City Council meeting.
He justified this decision as follows:
"Department 5 is the largest department in the city administration with a very extensive range of tasks. Not only does it have to manage by far the largest proportion of compulsory expenditure (Social Welfare Office and Youth Welfare Office), the department also manages the two biggest issues of our time in the areas of health and culture. On the one hand, it is responsible for dealing with the pandemic in our city, and on the other, it is responsible for the work of our cultural institutions, which a newly elected mayor will have to steer until the Capital of Culture and beyond.
This person must be professionally qualified and personally convincing. He or she must be able to find solutions to upcoming problems. I also want us - the city councillors, the mayors and myself - to work together with this person in a spirit of trust and to act together in the best interests of the city.
No application received a majority at yesterday's city council meeting. As the decision was ultimately only made by lot, it was my responsibility to weigh up thoroughly and conscientiously whether to give my consent. I did this in the knowledge that I was not convinced by Dr Bruder's application.
All of this led me to decide not to grant my consent in accordance with Section 28 (4) of the Saxon Municipal Code.
I am well aware that refusing to give my consent to a democratically legitimised city council decision is not an everyday decision and significantly encroaches on the rights of city councillors. However, it is also clear that the legislator has deliberately created this possibility, just as it has allowed elections by lot without a majority. Both are part of our democratic rules and both were applied yesterday.
For me, the consensus, as in this case, is a corrective to ensure that such important personnel decisions are not dependent on chance.
As I already announced at yesterday's meeting, we will now start the personnel selection process again. I will approach the group chairmen promptly in order to prepare and conduct the further procedure with the necessary thoroughness."