TYROLEAN DAILY NEWSPAPER “Editorial” from March 13, 2022 by Marco Witting “Of Emperors and Beggars”
Even if there are still all-powerful local leaders: A change of generations can certainly be seen in the community rooms.
Innsbruck (OTS) – 54 candidates – one goal. Become mayor and follow those colleagues who made it in the first ballot. Today’s runoff elections will produce happy and sad faces, and the winners will briefly bask in the spotlight. Short time. Because tomorrow is not only the swearing-in for all old and new mayors, but also a lot of work. And the task of leading a church was probably not nearly as difficult as it is now. The terrible war in Ukraine and thousands of people seeking help are immediately becoming a challenge in many communities. As is so often the case, the solutions for place will have to be found within communities and civil society. All this while the municipal coffers were empty in places. Because the municipalities of the federal and state governments are always given a cornucopia of new tasks, but not the appropriate equipment.
In this way, village emperors, who hardly exist anymore anyway, quickly become beggars for allocations of need. An absurdity. The job as community manager has it all in other respects, too. It starts with difficult legal issues and ends with the search for majorities in the municipal council. The uniform lists and omnipotence of the mayors still exist. But you can also see a change of generations in many parish offices. Unfortunately, this has not yet led to the fact that there are significantly more women as mayors. A number probably showed how difficult the job is overall. A quarter of all incumbent mayors did not even stand in the February 27 election.
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