Frankfurt: Allegations of abuse of office against Mayor Peter Feldmann
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fromJulian Dorn
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The larger-than-life portrait of Frankfurt’s Mayor Peter Feldmann is emblazoned on advertising posters for the new RMV e-bus shuttle. The CDU now senses abuse of power.
Frankfurt – The posters should quickly be as big as the new e-buses they advertise. In the north of Frankfurt a new shuttle has been operating since Sunday (October 3rd, 2021) with the name “Knut, for whom the RMV is beating the drum on giant billboards.
Only for “Knut”? The CDU in Frankfurt thinks the whole thing is more of an advertising campaign in favor of Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) and is sharply critical of the advertising campaign. The reason: on the posters, the focus is not on the electrically powered buses – but on the oversized likeness of the Frankfurt city hall chief. Spicy: Feldmann is also the head of the supervisory board of the local public transport companies.
Frankfurt mayor Peter Feldmann criticized for RMV poster campaign: Transport company does not understand the excitement
Now the opposition suspects abuse of office. For example, the former Christian Democratic Mayor of Frankfurt, Uwe Becker, complains on Twitter: “That has nothing to do with advertising a transport project, it’s advertising for one person,” Becker exclaims. And further: “If a transport company is forced to focus solely on the person, then that is abuse. Especially when you are also chairing the supervisory board there, you should be twice as careful – and not twice as big. “
Sorry, but this is the abuse of transport companies that receive million dollar grants from tax revenues. Especially if you are also chairing the supervisory board there, you should be twice as careful … and not twice as big. pic.twitter.com/gPn2de3KsI
– Uwe Becker (@itsuwe) October 2, 2021
“TraffiQ”, the local public transport company of the city of Frankfurt, is responsible for the campaign. Its managing director Dr. Tom Reinhold (53) doesn’t understand all the excitement about Feldmann’s face in the center of the posters. When asked by the Bild newspaper, he vehemently defended the decision to advertise the three new e-buses with the Frankfurt mayor: “The mayor is our chairman of the supervisory board, he is the most famous from Frankfurt – and if I get him as a free model, then I’m pleased. I do not understand the trouble.”
Frankfurt’s Mayor Peter Feldmann on RMV posters: Actually there should be 30 e-buses, Frankfurt only had money for three
For RMV boss Knut Ringat, this action is no surprise, as he told the picture: “That Feldmann claims these three vehicles for himself, that’s just the way it is in Frankfurt.” Originally, according to Ringat, it should have been 30 buses. Alone: ”The city had no more money.” The name of the new shuttle had nothing to do with his first name, he emphasizes. “But they asked me if the name Knut was okay.”
And what does Mayor Feldmann himself say about the allegations? The newspaper quotes him as saying: “I have been promoting RMV products personally for years – also because the traffic turnaround can only succeed with strong public transport.”
The Frankfurt Mayor Peter Feldmann is under pressure because of the AWO affair
The latest allegations against the mayor of Frankfurt because of the RMV campaign are part of a series: The Frankfurt mayor is repeatedly criticized – precisely because of allegations that he used his political position to gain advantages for himself or his relatives. For example in the AWO affair about the salary of Feldmann’s wife.
In November 2019 it was published that Feldmann’s wife Zübeyde Feldmann, who ran the first German-Turkish day care center “Dostluk – Friendship” for the Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO), had already received the maximum salary for her collective bargaining group and a company car after just under two years. Actually, you would have had to work in the collective bargaining group for 17 years beforehand. It is around 1,000 euros higher than the gross salary that you get when you join the company.
Feldmann rejects the accusation that, as mayor, he had an influence on the design of his wife’s AWO contract, from whom Feldmann now lives separately. The Federal Association of AWO subsequently confirmed that Zübeyde Feldmann’s salary was “obviously excessive”.
The Feldmann couple later want to repay the money. In February 2021, the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office initiated an investigation against Feldmann and his wife because of the AWO affair. Among other things, it concerns the suspicion of taking advantage. The investigation is still ongoing. (Julian Dorn)