How did Hallein’s politics come out of the mud fight?
In the second largest city of Salzburg, the cart is obviously so politically in the mud that nobody knows how to get it going again. The venerable Hallein was granted city rights almost 800 years ago.
Today, debates about the suspended head of the city office, about chat protocols, about ÖVP networks and much more characterize politics in the historic city with the salt mines that were once well-known since Celtic times. Kimbie Humer-Vogl is city councilor for the Greens: “After three years of work, the city government has arrived at the ruins of its existence.” Your party is now demanding apologies from all parties to the dispute.
Change of power from 1998 and 2019 with long-term consequences?
The SPÖ has been the mayor in Hallein since 1946, and the ÖVP from 1998 to 2019. Then Alexander Stangassinger regained power for the Social Democrats. A fact that, according to the mayor, the ÖVP could not cope with. Outrageous things have now surfaced, says Stangassinger: “People are talking about ‘carpet bombs’ and that they want to do everything possible to withhold messages and so on and so forth.”
Foreign shame is also announced
The motto under the roof of Hallein’s town hall sounds like sheer mockery for many at the moment: “What’s happening here, it’s everyone’s business, community spirit helps with it”. The city politician Oliver Mitterlechner from the party “BASIS Hallein” sees the situation very critically. He is ashamed of the behavior of some ÖVP mandaters: “They are obviously involved in the relevant affairs here.”
Stangassinger outraged by the ÖVP
In any case, the SPÖ in Hallein has announced cooperation with the ÖVP, as the mayor emphasizes: “The trust is at zero. And if you just can’t trust people anymore, then they have no business being in politics or in a party.”
In the People’s Party you play the ball back
The Halleiner ÖVP plays the ball back to the mayor. Among other things, it is about interference with data protection, emphasizes Deputy Mayor Florian Scheicher from the People’s Party: “The fact is that the mayor got up from the table and told us in the media that he no longer wanted to work with us.”
There is no black rope team in Hallein to assert one’s own interests in Hallein, says Scheicher: “We don’t have a rope team in Hallein for our issues.”
The political climate in Hallein could remain quite poisoned for a long time. The prospect of improvement is currently quite low, one hears from the town hall.