Surprise in Marzahn-Hellersdorf: Juliane Witt (left) remains councilor. However, she is changing departments: she will no longer be responsible for urban development, but will return to social affairs, which she chaired from 2016 to 2021. At the end of February, Witt had announced that he did not want to stand for re-election. And she doesn’t have to.
“I stood for election three times – in 2010, 2016 and 2021,” Witt said at the end of February. “You have to know when to pass the baton. And this is the right time.” She has been a city councilor in Marzahn-Hellersdorf since 2010 – in changing posts. Now it’s time for someone younger to take over, Witt said.
“I assumed 100 percent that there would be a deselection and that the district office would be re-elected,” Witt said on Monday. She was also convinced that “urgency was required”. On March 23rd, it was said at the time, the regulation on how to deal with new and old city councilors and district mayors should be passed throughout Berlin. “I wanted to say in good time that I don’t want to face another vote.” She saw herself being said goodbye to the comrades with a bouquet of flowers in her hand.
I assumed 100 percent that there would be a deselection and that the district office would be re-elected.
Juliane Witt, left
Witt, 60 years old, had no intention of taking early retirement. She wanted to look for a job with a social agency. The left is also preparing. She didn’t want to simply award the post through the board, but rather let the members elect a candidate. That was finally supposed to happen on April 22nd. The current district faction leaders Sarah Fingarow and Bjoern Tielebein were traded as possible successors.
A legal problem
As early as March, there were indications that the procedure for the new old district offices should be different than Witt had imagined. The background was a legal problem. The district mayors and city councilors who came into office in 2021 are elected officials. Since this was not a new election but a repeat election and the legislative period is continuing, they remain in office.
Theoretically it would be possible to reorganize the district offices by resigning the members or by being voted out and re-elected. But the latter should not exist. A resignation, in turn, would mean a complete loss of pension entitlements. These would not only be lost for the duration of the current electoral term, but for the entire term of office – even if it has already lasted ten years.
The law that was finally passed brought another regulation with it: after the repeat election, the district offices should also reflect the new election result. In many districts, the CDU gained votes and in some cases also became the strongest force.
And again the problem: no re-election. Resigning district mayors and city councilors formally remain in office. But they should step aside and be released – with full wage compensation. In Marzahn-Hellersdorf, this only applies to Nicole Bienge (SPD), who was previously the city councilor for health and youth. However, the SPD is only entitled to one city council post, and district mayor Gordon Lemm will take it on – in precisely this department.
On Saturday, the left-wing members learned about the about-face
Back to Juliane Witt. “The past few weeks have been a difficult time for me,” she says. She slept badly, I also knew that the younger comrades were in the starting blocks. “I didn’t make friends with it.” Now it’s decided. The members learned about it at the general meeting on Saturday.
Despite the bumpy transition: Witt is looking forward to the task. The social welfare office is also looking forward to seeing them. Above all, because Witt brings experience and knows the office – so it doesn’t take a long time to get to know each other, no training.
The other city councilors have now also been determined. On Friday, the CDU and SPD announced their new personnel tableau. The previous social councilor Nadja Zivkovic (CDU) will – that was known – district mayor. She also takes on the areas of finance, roads and green spaces as well as environmental protection and nature conservation.
Since the previous school councilor Torsten Kühne is moving to the Senate Department for Education as State Secretary, the CDU needs a successor for him – Stefan Bley, who was previously responsible for daycare centers as department head for the German Red Cross, is to take over his post.
Since the CDU will be entitled to three city councilors (including the district mayor), one more person is needed. Heike Wessoly will be responsible for urban development. Most recently, she worked in the CDU parliamentary group in the Berlin House of Representatives and was a district councilor in Lichtenberg.
The AfD is also entitled to a city council again. He’s supposed to be in charge of regulatory affairs. The AfD wants to nominate Michael Adam again, who has not been elected in 13 ballots since the beginning of the election period in autumn 2021.
