Inaugural Speech Delivered by Mayor Andreas Rieckhof in Königsmarck Hall at the Town Hall on 15.01.2007

Press copy
The spoken word shall prevail.

Form of address,
I am pleased that you have come today.
And I am pleased to make your acquaintance.

And I wish you all a happy and successful New Year. I welcome those mayors of our neighbouring communities and also members of the political bodies present.

Please forgive me for welcoming just one person individually, and to whom I would like to give a particularly warm welcome:

It is Ya'acov Wismonski from Givat Shmuel.

Having been a mayor there over a long period of time, Ya'acov Wismonski was a founder of the town twinning between Stade and Givat Shmuel, together with our former city manager Jürgen Schneider. He came here all the way from Israel. Welcome “Jankele” Wismonski!

I also convey greetings from the mayors of both our twin towns, Goldap and Karlshamn. I am going to welcome my colleague from Goldap, Marek Miros, here in May and my colleagues from Karlshamn during the Swedish Week in June.
I am looking forward to it!

Form of address,

I applied for the responsible position of the first full-time mayor, because Stade is a beautiful town and a good place to live. It will have an excellent future provided that we open the way for it now and I believe myself to be capable of contributing successfully to it. I believe we are capable of doing so together.

Let us ask:

What are our opportunities, our challenges, and our perspectives?

Which is the right example for our town to follow? I think being market-orientated and competitive alone won’t be enough. Stade is not Denver.

Nor will it be sufficient, to simply follow the model of a social and environmentally compatible town.

My guideline consists of linking quality of life and locational appeal. I want Stade to be attractive, innovative, tradition-conscious and open-minded. A town that is both old and modern at the same time - a town with charm.
The City of Stade which in 2009 is going to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the final award of its town charter – who actually knows? – must

1. see itself as the active centre of the Lower Elbe region and as a part of Hamburg Metropolitan Region,
2. be a modern location for industry, technology, education, research and harbour logistics,
3. be a good location for new business start-ups,
4. provide options that are favourable to families and senior citizens,
5. have safe and well-designed residential areas,
6. have socially stable town districts,
7. ensure nature and landscape keep their space and qualities.

I’ll begin with the economy:

I stand for an economy-friendly policy in close cooperation with local industry and, in particular, with small and medium-size businesses.

I want to create a favourable environment for economic activities.

Stade is a growing and developing town. Its success is not a matter of luck, but the result of a reliable and targeted policy.

Cross-parliamentary party, local politicians champion the cause of promoting the town as a business location.

Due to attractive workplaces and an excellent quality of life, population figures have been constantly increasing.

As a medium-sized regional centre, Stade offers ideal conditions for an attractive business location. Property and real estate can be obtained at a reasonable price. Economic success and a high quality of life can be combined here in the best possible way.

These are not just empty clichés. I will do everything in my power to facilitate possible expansion of our industry, whenever required.

Bützfleth harbour extension is absolutely necessary. This is an issue of top priority.

It remains to be seen who will get what kind of opportunity at what point in time, since the spending of public money depends on competitive procedures. All local players are aware of this.

The City of Stade will have an influence on this matter because the town will, as it were, gain land from the Elbe river according to planning law.

I’d also like to see Stade become a location for shipping companies. The development of the Salztorsvorstadt district is important also because of the fact that it can host several shipping companies, which is exactly what these companies actually require, so would there be any better place for them to settle than at the harbour?

I spoke with the boss of Prokon Nord, Ingo de Buhr, and was delighted to hear that 25 employees are already working on the former Hydro grounds. The number of employees is constantly increasing. Even preparatory works for the production of rotor blades are currently under way. Off-shore wind power is a big opportunity for Stade.

And there is a piece of news as well. I’ll tell you right away, because I was so happy on hearing about it last Friday: The former Hydro training workshop is now being run on under the management of Prokon Nord. This is also good news.

As to the bio ethanol plant and the steam-generating plant in Bützfleth, I can only say: both must be established.

Since the steam-generating plant will supply the bio ethanol plant and partly AOS, too, it won’t help to simply argue for a coal-fired power station that will go on-stream in 2012, as the unemployed Hydro workers will need a job next year at the latest. It would be wrong to play one off against the other.

Furthermore, the construction of the steam-generating plant which is to be powered by substitute fuels means that fantastic Red-Green policy is put into practice. Jürgen Trittin has deliberately made the dumping on waste disposal sites more difficult, in order to give priority to materials recycling and thermal utilization, because resources will be made available for use by the conversion of energy.

The technological standard of the facility must significantly exceed the legal minimum requirements, though. I will insist on written confirmation and proof, which Ingo de Buhr promised to furnish, when we met last Friday.

The coal-fired power station is currently under discussion. I think that we will get things straight by March. I hope – and I also set my hopes on being supported by the Land government – that, whatever the exact location of the power station may be, it will be able to do without a huge cooling tower and use water from the Elbe instead. Its consumption will probably be clearly below that of the previous nuclear power station. As to the water duty, the state of Lower Saxony is required to be flexible. Perspectives are encouraging in this field, too.

Stade must continue to remain a chemical industry location. Its competitiveness must be assured by making efforts towards new investments. Things look quite hopeful.

Today, DOW Stade is still the biggest chlorine plant in Europe. The maintenance and replacement of the facilities at the local site has priority, since they are getting older and could possibly be replaced by new ones in other business locations.

The supply of chemical industry in Stade with olefins serving as raw material must be improved and safeguarded.

I think that creating a network of all sites in Northern Germany and linking Stade to the Western European cross-company ethylene pipeline network, which has not been done so far, would be useful.

As I see it, political support is therefore necessary for the construction of a new ethylene pipeline from Stade via Wilhelmshaven to Gelsenkirchen, so that it’s worth building a so-called “steam-cracker” in Wilhelmshaven.

Thus, ethane and propane gas could be provided via Emden to serve as raw materials for such a cracker in Wilhelmshaven, where ethylene and propylene for Stade could then be produced.

A cracker in Wilhelmshaven would attract further ethylene consumers, if Stade was connected to the ethylene pipeline network (and vice versa). But that’s all still up in the air and will depend on how the companies concerned, those in Stade included, define their interests.

Form of address,

The weeks to come will be crucial, in particular for Airbus Stade, since there is a struggle going on for the leading role within the group as to CFRP components. Let us all hope that the respective technology development will remain in the Stade location to be further developed here.

Large-scale serial production of CFRP components will come here according to my conversation with Mr Meiners several days ago, but anyway, there is much more happening.

In any case, the plant needs to get the maximum support of the town, wherever possible, and I want us – the administration and the council – to be prepared.

Stade must continue to sharpen its profile as a location for technology and offer attractive conditions for companies to settle, in particular in the growth sector. Cooperation with universities within networks is to be further developed.

Last week, I met with Prof. Dr. Herrmann from CFK-Valley and later, I also saw Prof. Dr. Sierke from the Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen. Both have further projects for Stade in mind and I will offer them maximum support. After speaking to them, I am convinced that we will secure new settlements here and achieve a great deal.

We have to be aware of the fact that, due to the researchers, developers and students, the social structure of the town will undergo deep and durable change. This will have an effect on our still a bit provincial and quiet milieu. We must not be seen to be a sleepy town. A great deal of open-mindedness will be demanded from us – extending to our cultural scene, accommodation and the catering sector. I think that this is good, and I will encourage it whenever possible.

District Administrator Michael Roesberg and I both agree that authorities in Stade must see themselves as service providers and partners. We do not want to create any insurmountable bureaucratic obstacles, but facilitate the grant of the authorizations the entrepreneurs need. Entrepreneurs are supposed to fully devote themselves to their businesses, to develop innovative ideas and to put them into practice. Enterprises are to be seen as the driving force for a positive development of the region.

Generally, District Administrator Roesberg and I want to join forces. That’s what we agreed upon last week. I want Stade to keep its leading role as chief town of the district.

Counselling and assistance for business start-ups is important to me.
Setting up a business always affords a lot of professional, financial and personal opportunities for development. It also carries risks, though. There is no guarantee of entrepreneurial success. The economic development department does an exemplary job of promoting business start-ups. This is unique in Lower Saxony. On Thursday, I ensured that this work can be continued by the application of my signature.

Trade tax: In my opinion, the trade tax assessment rate should not be increased any further. However, without consideration, I won’t promise you that it will go down, either.

And I stand for the integration into Hamburg Metropolitan Region. If you know my personal background, this won’t come as a surprise to you.

As a result of globalization, in Stade we will have to integrate with the growth of the region, not against Hamburg but together with Hamburg.

Those days of particularism and parish pump politics are past history.

I see my chief task as paving the way towards a breakthrough of historic necessities - and this is a genuine statement.
And that means being closely integrated into the Hamburg region in terms of economy and transport.

Stade still continues to see itself too much as the centre of the Elbe-Weser-Triangle. That’s all very well, but Cuxhaven and Hemmoor are not where it’s at:

A new coal-fired power station won’t be built because Stade’s households have to be provided with electricity, but because Stade has now become an important part of Hamburg Metropolitan Region. And of course, Airbus and the harbour extension have a lot to do with Hamburg.

Stade will have a future only within Hamburg Metropolitan Region!

Don’t worry: I didn’t forget the small and medium-sized enterprises. I am the son of an entrepreneur myself.

Dear company owners, don’t be surprised, if I personally arrive at your business! I am quite mobile and I am going to pay visits to small, medium-sized and big enterprises. I do not intend to lock myself in my office and immerse myself in work. I want to hear about and act upon your matters of concern.

On the subject of social affairs:

The main achievement of European civilization consists of turning the needy who once were objects of charity, into people with specific rights, thus giving them back their dignity. In the meantime, new problems have arisen, especially due to globalisation. It stands for new economical opportunities but also leads to increasing social inequality at all levels, national as well as local.

It is important to me to assure the people in our town that we do not want to leave anybody behind, that nobody will be excluded and that each person counts.

Social policy has to be directed against writing people off.

There must be a claim for being attentive to people, being there for the socially disadvantaged not only in charity events or grandiloquent speeches, but also in getting our social and youth work actively involved in the development of our town and its districts. This doesn’t apply to the Altländer Viertel district alone. The welfare state won’t be replaced by charitable collections.

I see it as a big advantage that, in addition to town planning options, there is a wide range of socio- and youth political instruments in our town. These will also persist in the future and are to be harmonized with our town development and building policies.

However, policies do not have to be identified with statehood. Self-government as well as, I’m saying this intentionally, “justified inequality” are not automatically reprehensible.

Self-help groups represent a valuable and indispensable complement to the traditional social and health system. They wake, support and strengthen people’s will to help themselves.

Of course, a municipality won’t be able to help out wherever higher authorities reduce or stop their financial support. However, as a Mayor, I will do what I can to see that the Land or District will continue to provide support.

My staff has set up a long list of possible projects in the social and educational sector. You need not be worried about me looking at everything solely from a financial point of view but of course, I have to keep an eye on the money to a certain extent.

In this town, there is a growing number of despondent people who were defeated by life. I have met some of those who cannot be held responsible for their fate. I want to be their mayor, too, and also take up their matters of concern.

I am getting on to the fields of planning, construction, transport, housing, environment and nature

Economy means a lot, but of course it isn’t everything. Town development has to be sustainable and valid for a long time. I want all fundamental plans referring to town development to be brought together and updated in the years to come.

The development and improvement of transport infrastructure, in particular the connection to the motorway network, is indispensable, since this kind of infrastructure policy will continue to be a most effective way of promoting economic development.

I know that there are differing views. Stade’s overall traffic plan of 1988 urgently needs reworking. This is also true for the landscape plan of the same year. Even though it contains a lot of individual projects, the respective analyses are no longer relevant; they have not been brought together, nor have they been sufficiently coordinated. Generally, the various existing plans will have to be coordinated in order to avoid making town development on a case to case or project to project basis.

I don’t know whether the A 22 will ever be built; what is important to me is that the A 26 will be extended northbound. And I want a traffic management that relieves the town centre of the heavy vehicle traffic.

Although the federal transport infrastructure plan now ensures that the A 26 and the A 22 are going to be built, its realization will be slow. The planning permission hearings for the 5th construction stage concerning the northbound route leading towards Bützfleth and Drochtersen ought to be based on a route that keeps the longest-possible distance from the residential built-up area in Schölisch and at the same time does justice to the interests of Götzdorf. Having already contacted the Schölisch citizens’ group, I’m soon going to meet those in charge of road building at Land level.

Cycling

Many people have already seen me riding my red racing cycle. I don’t think that the town is very cyclist-friendly and I want this to be changed. Not just for the tourists, but for us locals, too. As I see it, the cycle track network isn’t the main problem; but there is a lack of parking facilities, of stations to change transportation and possibilities of using the existing tracks.

The Agenda process

I am of the opinion that council and administration should get more active in the Agenda 21 process according to the Rio-summit of 1992 and succeeding summits, and according to the Aalborg Charter of 1994, in order to make progress in meeting the goal of sustainable long-term town development.

I would like to add, however, that a local Agenda process needs to be backed by broad sections of society and must not be left to the administration alone.

The municipal agenda coordinator, the administration and, of course, your mayor, are not the only ones who are responsible for the agenda process.

I would also like to stress that I very much welcome the work done by the working group for a sustainable development of the Schwinge river and its tributaries, the Schwinge meadows and hydraulic structures.

Nature and landscape

I want near-natural spaces in town to be preserved, maintained and developed. This applies to the Schwinge and its meadows, the Schwinge tributaries, the transitional area between the sandy moorlands and the marshes near Campe. And of course, it also applies to areas that are under protection already, such as the Barger Heide (Barge Heath) which is unfortunately becoming more and more bushy and the Weißes Moor (White Moor), which needs to become a wetland area again.

We must not treat our natural environment like aggressors whose only target consists in neutralizing the environment.

Compact town

I adhere to the model of a compact, urban, “European” town. Therefore, pieces of fallow land or areas becoming free in the inner city or close to the centre should be given priority to be turned into usable areas again (as, for instance, Salztorsvorstadt, Stockfeld, Kopenkamp etc).

And I want all public services and important retail trades to be located in the centre of town, if possible.

A lot is being done in this field as well, and I want it to be done according to a high quality design standard. To me, building successfully means creating sensations. However, planners and architects are no creators of fashion, as Richard Sennett once rightly remarked. A town is no fashion show.

An urban, traffic and landscape plan which marks everything to the smallest detail and designs everything precisely and carefully, is doomed to fail.

Searching for organic unity, again an idea of Richard Sennett, isn’t social either. A town needs diversity to exist. Urban life means complexity, variety, irregularity, formation of niches, and options for retreat. In a town, there must be room for the unexpected, too.

I want the compact, urban, historic town of Stade to be preserved. Even in the outskirts, a certain pressure for new settlement will arise due to the town’s location within the region, due to further improved transport connections (road and rail) to Hamburg, and also for social reasons (property prices). I mainly plead for a strategy of enlargement, for instance in Riensförde. The enlargement of the town should take priority over the development of new areas in the countryside. This also applies to our town districts.

Concerning new housing construction, I feel that a surplus of apartment blocks is emerging. Therefore, investment in new construction of apartment blocks should be made in a very selective way.

With regard to detached and semi-detached houses, an active land reserves policy is required to control demographic development and avoid out-migration.

I want the housing supply to become more dynamic and differentiated. It must be as varied as possible. Living in Ottenbeck is not everybody’s cup of tea (mine perhaps, but just not everybody else’s).

Structural alterations to rented dwellings are necessary, but that’s primarily the business of private owners and the Wohnstätte housing association. Substantial modernization of existing housing stock is useful provided that long-term market perspectives are good.

It is of great importance to me that the Altländer Viertel district continues to make good progress. I will therefore attend the next meeting of the Stadtteilforum (district forum) myself. In the long run, the developing structures will have to be self-financing. We won’t be able to permanently maintain the publicly funded structures to the same extent. That’s why all efforts in connection with strengthening self-help and self-organization are particularly important.

The big issue for the next 16 years will be the renovation of the districts adjacent to the town centre, which are the areas of Salztorsvorstadt, Campe, Kopenkamp, Hahle and, a bit further away, the centre of Bützfleth.

The town centre is a “diamond that is badly set”. This beautiful wording goes back to Prof. Ehlers from Stade who actually lives in Bonn. He is the chairman of the Megacity-project’s expert committee; he loves his hometown and comes regularly to visit it.

What he meant to say was, and I fully agree with him, that in the meantime, our town centre has been redeveloped in a really fantastic way, but that in the medium term, we will also have to give attention to the adjacent districts.

We’re looking at the districts that were built around the turn of the century, in the twenties and thirties or, like Hahle, in the fifties and sixties. This is where we will have to make efforts in the following years to improve the structural fabric, the green spaces close to the centre and thus, the quality of life on the whole.

It’s worth mentioning here, that the Wohnstätte did an exemplary job when organizing the competition for the Kopenkamp district.

Within the next 16 to 20 years, this ring of districts surrounding the old part of the town will be in the most need of modernization. An architectural style that is simple but very expressive can sometimes be found here. Based on the underlying building concepts and due to the fact that in the past, property developers used to be responsible for the entire area, these areas partly have an individual character. Therefore, the quality of architectural design in these older quarters is very distinctive, something we rarely see in so many residential areas with modern detached houses. In my view, redevelopment of these residential areas surrounding the old town – our diamond – must take priority over new settlements on green field sites - except for Riensförde and the entire southern part of the town.

If we don’t do it, this is where the social problems of the 2020s and 2030s will evolve. I want town development to be prospective and to a certain extent preventive, for a change.

I’m moving on to the development of the old town

I can imagine new construction of housing blocks only in very attractive areas and mainly for special forms of housing, such as housing for the elderly.

I’ve heard that in certain sections of the population, there is a small trend to move back to the town centre. The special atmosphere of the old part of the town should be used more assertively in its marketing.

I’m more concerned about retail shops which are run by the owners than many in the audience would expect.

I want the inner city to keep its supply function. But I also see it this way: shopping mobility of consumers will increase, while attachment to local shops will decrease. This will apply all the more, when the motorway and the suburban railway are available.

When the discerning consumer chooses his places to shop, he will mainly compare prices (stagnant or decreasing incomes will result in a decreasing variety of the supply) and also the quality of shopping as an event (going shopping as an event that makes up for the lack of buying, as an opposite trend). From the entrepreneurial point of view, it could be said that customers are optimising their ways of obtaining supplies. That’s why chain stores and specialist shops in the town centre won’t ruin the centre at all. The adored H+M store is basically a chain store, too, a low-cost brand, but nonetheless it is very attractive and we absolutely want to have it. People will vote by use of their feet or car tyres, if we don’t do anything.

I’m now turning to the Sander Markt project. Some “freshening up” will certainly be good for this part of the old town. However, this has to be done very carefully because in the foreseeable future, this will be one of the last larger areas in the town centre to be used for development. Therefore it all depends on what the City wants it to become.

The development plan does not depend on investors and is necessary, whether ICE will be the developer or not.

In any case, the decision on the development plan, not on the project itself, has to be made in February, since by then, the employment agency that owns Harburger Straße 1 and still has a service centre in the old post office building, wants and needs to know where they can move parts of their facilities. The State with its law courts also needs to gain clarity since it has got empty houses in Albert-Schweitzer-Straße and will possibly need Harburger Straße 1. Therefore, the council will have to deal with the development plan in February and I am going to urge them to bring about a decision in this regard.

The situation of the concrete Sander Markt project, which is meant to be realized in two stages, is a bit different.

At this point, I would like to mention the conditions that have to be met before I can give my consent. I attach great importance to the fact that the investor is required to make a statement communicated to the public. The agreed conditions will then have to be fixed in a contract, made in private of course, and open only to the council. This procedure should be completed by June at the latest.

My conditions are:

1. The law courts are to be moved to a place near the centre of the town, most probably to Harburger Straße. I think that choosing locations further outside would not be reasonable, because the law courts need to be reachable for external visitors. This applies to Ottenbeck, and also to the post office in the eastern part of the town.

2. It has to be contractually agreed that flats are to be established on the upper floor of the planned building, and this plan should come to fruition and should not just be regarded as lip service. This serves to strengthen the centre’s function as a housing area and I don’t see why we shouldn’t claim the same here as we did elsewhere when the centre of the town was redeveloped. Secondly, housing offers an opportunity to design the object in a more diverse architectural style and on a smaller scale than a pure office building would allow. I think the Mercado in Hamburg-Ottensen, in the vicinity of which I lived for many years, is a good example.

3. The Administrative District must be offered a lease contract. It might not be accepted but there is a possibility that part of the space will be needed in the future.

4. The grocery store to be chosen must be of high quality. I do not want a discount store to be established. The investor must undertake to choose a grocery store offering the full range of grocery goods, and no discount store. The goods on offer should only include a limited share of non food articles. The new store would in fact only replace Pennymarkt on a higher level, so no need for concern.

5. I want a well-structured and transparent façade of high architectural standard to be built. A competition among architects has to be organised in this regard.

6. In the first construction stage, links to the side streets, especially to Holzstraße, must be improved. I don’t want any closed system or architectural separation. I want an individual architectural solution that is open to its surroundings in order to promote intensive interaction with the old centre of town. The investor is required to come up with some ideas on this.

7. An obligation must be placed on the management of the object to join the “Aktuelles Stade” association and to participate in joint publicity campaigns for the inner city.

8. I want a profitability calculation for the project to be made even for the first construction stage, as well as a financing commitment of the financing bank, which includes detailed information on outside and borrowed funds. This, of course, will be a confidential matter.

Provided that all these binding conditions are met in the individual contract, including all the restrictions as to the use and design of the project that are to be imposed on the future investor by the City of Stade, I could agree not only to the development plan but also to the project as a whole.

The fact that the project will probably not include the segments of youth fashion, shoes, electrical shop, lifestyle and sports/outdoor in its first construction stage, could be seen as an opportunity for the competitors.

I think that the first construction stage is unlikely to create much pressure among competitors in the inner city. This could be a bit different in the second construction stage, the start of which is not yet clear to me.

In any case, the gradual realisation of the project will allow the remaining retail trade in the old part of the town to take their time to prepare for future competitors, which is a blessing because it means that competition in this area won’t start until 2011, 2012 or even later. And I don’t see why enterprises shouldn’t be obliged to enter into competition, especially as there will be a lot of time to adjust. I think that this is relatively comforting.

Protectionism is always bad. Those who fight change for too long will lose their competitiveness at some point. Therefore, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce made a positive statement on the development plan, contrary to the retail trade association.

What else is happening? I’m sure that the area between Poststraße and Große Schmiedestraße will undergo urban redevelopment. The Administrative District will probably soon give up its vehicle registration office there. I don’t object, as long as the office will remain in Stade. Last week, Mr Roesberg assured me that this would be the case.

Furthermore, things are happening south of “Waller”. The former barracks are of course to be maintained as is the Goldap room, but this doesn’t apply to the rest of the building stock, so I think that in addition to livening up the inner city, it will also be possible to improve the link to “Am Sande” Square.

Stade is to present itself even more as the most customer-friendly town in the region. In this context, parking is a particularly important topic. When visiting inhabitants in the town districts, I was often told that many of them don’t go shopping in the centre on a regular basis. They want the shops to be reachable by car in an easy and comfortable way, and are particularly bothered by the parking fees. There seems to be some - unfounded - feeling that one has to pay an entrance fee to visit the centre of the town and despite the fact that there is sufficient and reasonably priced parking space available in the inner city, the current parking system seems to be seen as uncomfortable and complicated.

In my capacity as mayor, I will therefore suggest a non-bureaucratic solution to the council:

Parking above ground will be declared free of charge after 4:00 p.m. (up to now 6:00 p.m.) from Monday to Friday and all day on Saturdays.

• This is going to be a temporary regulation on a trial basis for one year.
• There won’t be any changes concerning the underground car parks and the car park at the train station. Parking will continue to be subject to charges.
• In the mornings and until 4:00 o’clock in the afternoons, the existing parking regulation will be maintained so that spaces cannot be blocked by long-term parkers.
• Parking offenders will of course be ticketed as before, in particular after 4:00 p.m. and on Saturdays, in order to avoid the impression that traffic regulations need not be respected.

I hope that this regulation will add to making the centre of town even more appealing.

Fair

I want to see the fair return to the inner city, because it will contribute to liven up the centre. I don’t want the square Am Sande to be the only fairground, though. The fair should form a circuit extending to KARSTADT and then back through Poststraße.

In 1989, the City of Stade actually promised the fairground showmen that they would be allowed to come back if they wanted to. As is often the case in life, opinions of the fairground showmen are divided. For the present, the City of Stade is in charge of organizing the fair. Stall fees are to be affordable. Moving the fair will only be possible however, if

1. a vast majority of the fairground showmen
2. the retail trade association
3. the Aktuelles Stade association
4. the stall owners of the weekly market
5. the shopkeepers in the streets concerned
6. as well as the inhabitants of the inner city

are all involved. This will be a hard job that certainly can’t be done before 2008.

A substitute solution for the present fairground has to be found as well. It’s meant to be a location for circus performances, maybe also for campers as well, since it is very close to the Solemio and other sports facilities. Catering services and gym clubs in the vicinity could also profit from it.

What else?

I want better parking facilities for cyclists.

I want seating at the Pferdemarkt for people travelling by bus.

The bus service is meant to start and end at the Pferdemarkt. It is out of question to me to move it elsewhere because elderly people in particular rely on it when going into town.

I look forward to the suburban railway, the more so because it is the line I actually used to take to get from Hamburg-Eidelstedt to university, to work or to the city centre.

I’m getting on to culture

Besides finances and economic development, there was something else that meant a lot to me in my work over the past 6 years; town history, culture and the promotion of art.

I always felt it important to highlight regional peculiarities as characteristic features of a town.

On its own however, this is not enough, and significant regional artists are aware of this.

• It’s not just a matter of having pride in recognition, of preserving traditions, of the well-known good points.

• It’s also a matter of introducing the new and the difficult, which is not yet a familiar experience to us.

The public is not only to be entertained; it has to be faced with a challenge, too.

I am a lobbyist of modern art, even though it has no mass appeal, yet. Impressionists and expressionists once started as rank outsiders, too.

Even though Stade has a distinct maritime tradition, I don’t think that the town makes the best of this in its museums.
I want us to put the maritime sights of Stade into the limelight and draw attention to them.

Sometime, the old harbour should be reachable by boat again. A bascule bridge will only be possible in the years to come, if we get EU-funds for it. We are working at it but I don’t know whether we will succeed. It would be my dream, though.

And Stadersand also needs to be transformed. I’ve already mentioned that the fence must be taken away. We have to come to an agreement with the Federal Government allowing us to take over the old landing stage. Besides Abbenfleth, Stadersand is our shop window to the Elbe and the way it looks now is not acceptable.

Museums

One has to offer something that can be done together with other people. Nobody will ask the question: “Which museum are we going to visit now?” but, “What could we do together now?”. One has to comply with the visitors’ demand for services. Unfortunately, the members of the educated class are dying out. Visitors must have the opportunity to get (basic) information, but they also need to park, eat, drink, stay, look, and meet. It’s the fish, not the fisherman, who must be attracted to the worm on the hook.

It is important to me that the harbour of Stade is used as a unique mark for tourism within the maritime landscape concept. The historic harbour is said to be the most beautiful port facilities between Novgorod and Bruges. It suffers from not being accessible by water.

Our harbour has got history as well as stories to tell. The historic harbour reminds us of the power struggle between the rival Hanseatic cities, the fight of the Danes and Swedes. Harbours such as the Stade one have a key position: They are places to visit for tourists.

The majority of the visitors are amateurs interested in maritime matters. There won’t be much interest in dealing more closely with maritime or historical details.

Only part of the museums have chosen the maritime and Hanseatic history as a major topic so far, not even the Schwedenspeicher museum (Swedish warehouse museum), although it stands out as a shining example. Nevertheless, as I read some time ago, it can’t be classified as a “must-see” item for foreign guests, yet.

I want to make the museum and the exhibition more eventful by creating opportunities for real life experiences. Therefore, the “Hansa museum” must be established, either in the Schwedenspeicher museum or in the House of Art, Kunsthaus Wasser West.

State garden show:

I have a dream about art and landscape architecture in Stade entering into a fruitful partnership. There’s a reason why I’m saying this: I have carefully studied the reports on the Winsen/Luhe show, and if Stade should ever host a regional garden show, then it will happen
on three conditions only:

1. State co-financing must be granted.
2. Such a show has to push on with a sustainable town development. I can imagine that a state garden show becomes a means to turn green spaces into new residential areas close to the centre of town.
3. Thirdly, the area cannot be restricted to presenting flowerbeds, but has to show international modern art here in Stade as well, at least, that’s what I want. I can imagine that a modern concept will help us to profit from further funds, too, for instance, those of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region which bet on an international growth concept. First considerations have been given. However, all this is subject to the proviso that financing can be guaranteed.

Citizens’ participation and dialogue

Facts alone don’t say enough. Only technocrats believe that facts speak for themselves and I am no technocrat.

But I don’t solely believe in the positive power of free-flowing, non-hierarchical discourse, either. In the end, it’s a matter of linking interests, forming alliances, finding plausible combinations.

None of the social groups in town can claim for itself to represent the whole of society. No class, no group is entitled to speak for all the others in this town.

There are no general instructions for reshaping Stade either.

I don’t mean to treat anybody patronizingly but want to activate social and economical forces. This also means getting citizens and firms involved in the definition of targets.

I bet on information and dialogue, based on the assumption that dialogue only works if one has an opinion. Thus, I will form my own judgment and, as some have already noticed, I’m not afraid to express even unpleasant or awkward views.

Giving different interest groups a share and disentangling conflicts is the best formula for avoiding bureaucratic, technocratic, economistic and idealistic-social excesses.

The new mayor is just one of those workers in the vineyard of the Lord.

I want open-mindedness and trust to exist within our administration and be extended toward the citizens. Therefore, the competence of our administration as a service provider has to be further strengthened.

Procedures must be transparent. As far as private matters are concerned, this applies at least to the members of the council who are also to be judged by whether they respect the confidentiality imposed by law.

Germans / non-Germans / immigrants

It is a special matter of concern to me that non-German minorities in our town are integrated in our social and political community.

Strictly speaking, foreigners have always been the ferment of a productive cultural life in a town. Without foreigners, towns would not exist. Towns grow because of immigration. No town has ever come into existence or has grown big by natural reproduction. It is a quite common experience to come across foreigners in town. Nonetheless, there are undoubtedly problems that we can only solve together.

Some time ago, I visited the Turkish-Islamic community of Bützfleth and I was very much impressed by their work. I’d be very pleased, if German-speaking Imams educated in Germany could work there. Such a course of theological studies is now said to be offered at the University of Frankfurt on the Main.

It is my conviction that in the town we need a Turkish community that doesn’t see to religious interests but to the secular interests of the inhabitants of Turkish origin, such as having Turkish members in the schools’ parents’ councils and getting Turkish parents involved in kindergartens, since language acquisition at the kindergarten is very important if parents don’t speak enough German.

I welcome the fact that there is dialogue between religious communities, between Christians and Muslims. The church, and in particular our dean, champions the cause of it. I will therefore participate in an event that is going to take place at the Pastor-Behrens-Haus in February.

I’m very pleased that we have a council member who isn’t of German origin and therefore represents a model of successful integration. There ought to be more of them, since the population of the town is also changing.

Sports in Stade

Some clubs in particular have rendered the integration of ethnic Germans and immigrants a great service.

I fully understand that the clubs prefer using their habitual sporting venues for the integration of new citizens desired by the City rather than making suburban on-site offers.

Stade is very keen on sports. Consequently, it is right not to cut the subsidies for coaches despite financial stringency, provided that, as a countermove, the clubs relieve the treasury by taking over the cleaning of sports halls and sports fields. Genuine building maintenance of municipal buildings will continue to be in the City of Stade’s responsibility.

Schools and kindergartens

Young parents and children need to find the best possible living conditions in Stade. Education starts in the family. School cannot assume the tasks of parents, although this impression has become evident in various places.
I can judge this to some extent because my sister is a school teacher in Hamburg, at Max Brauer School which has recently been awarded a prize for successful integration by the German President.

The City of Stade has to provide sufficient day care facilities in order to help parents find ways of combining family and working life. This applies even more, if an increasing number of young women are trained by an expanding industry, as currently in Ottenbeck.

Services which are meant to accompany and assist families are to be further developed. Some ideas do already exist.

A good education has an essential impact on the future of our children. That’s why I want our kindergartens and schools to make the best of our children. I think that a consistent pedagogical model for our municipal kindergartens is important. At school, we must develop the concept of all-day schooling and put it into practice.

As a municipality, we only have a limited influence on school matters, since we are mainly responsible for space required, school equipment and building maintenance, even for the schools maintained by us.

To a certain extent, I actually feel that the City of Stade is also responsible for the two grammar schools in Stade, although they are maintained by the Administrative District. I feel a certain rapport with both schools, and not just because we profit so often from their musical education in Königsmarck hall.

Senior citizens

Today, people live longer than in the past. It is essential to see the years gained in old age as a cultural resource, just the way the Dutch once forced fruitful land from the sea, as it nicely says in a popular book by Frank Schirrmacher.

Senior citizens must not be deprived of their dignity. It means a lot to keep one’s self-respect which is in danger of being taken away by old age.

Elderly people must object to being treated as “has-beens”, whether at work or in society.

It’s a matter of allowing senior people to develop a positive self-image and to find a positive attitude towards growing older.

The town won’t be able to do without the experience, the self-assurance, the knowledge and the wisdom of senior people any more.

Freedom from obstacles

The idea aims to remove barriers which partly or totally hinder people from participating in public or private life.
Please keep in mind that more and more people are getting older and older! Today, the phase of life following working life lasts 20-30 years. Even if mobility is gradually reduced, this phase is characterized by the wish for an independent lifestyle, self-realization and an active way of organizing one’s spare time.

This is also emphasized by the fact that just about 7% of the over 65 population live in homes for senior people or nursing homes, which means that 93% live in normal accommodation.

Against this backdrop, more and more people are in need of an environment that is free of obstacles wherever possible.

From the perspective of a wheelchair or a rollator, it is the great number of small obstacles which strongly reduce the quality of the public space.

Obstacles can be found everywhere: in streets and squares, public buildings, schools and kindergartens, shops, offices, at workplaces and in flats.

I want all publicly used entrances to be redesigned so that they are free of obstacles that might make people stumble.

I intend to establish a working group of administrative staff and volunteers whose briefing will be to develop a programme to make the town suitable for users with special needs. Perhaps, this will result in a local advisory committee of the disabled, or, as an alternative, a senior citizens’ advisory committee.

Cleanliness

Last year, I visited a lot of private homes. It was important to me to talk to the people. I got to know what you like about the town, what you dislike, and what you think ought to be changed.

So I can tell you; the citizens want a clean town that is free of rubbish, as do I.

I have stressed over and over again, that we should stop making false economies on the cleanliness of green spaces. I know how important this topic is for our citizens’ satisfaction.

Taking care of green spaces as well as street maintenance is the main task of KBS.

Safety

I want people to enjoy living in Stade, I want them to feel safe and comfortable in their quarters and districts. Crime prevention is a topic of great importance.

More regular patrol rounds, jointly made by policemen and administration staff, are necessary. All citizens will then clearly notice that police and municipality are jointly tackling the fight against crime.

The council has decided to establish a new volunteers’ service (FOSD) going on patrol, which is intended to put off any troublemakers, to record any kind of pollution or annoyances at an early stage and to serve as contact persons for passersby.

Applications are continuing to arrive and I will take a close look at all of them. Mr Kraska, who was put in charge of the safety and order office two weeks ago, is going to ensure at my request, that the FOSD will be very closely attached to the administration to make sure that everything works well.

Cooperation with the police and other criminal prosecution authorities is to be intensified. As to the municipal crime prevention activities, I would like the current situation to be assessed.

I want us to initiate projects, the effects of which we will have to analyse accordingly at a later stage. Criteria of quality are to be used with regard to the planning, execution and assessment of crime preventive projects.

For this, I think we should study the Beccaria project of the State Ministry of Justice and make use of the expertise that is available at the criminological research institute of Lower Saxony in Hanover. I have already discussed this with the police and the regional court.

If necessary, we will make a new start.

One thing is unfortunately true. We do have a problem with some youths and young adults, especially in the field of acts of brutality and violence. It is a small number but nonetheless, it is worth mentioning. The figures provided by the police representative in charge of youth matters as well as those provided by our own juvenile court assistance office in Ottenbeck, have shown this to me. Acts of violence are, however, mainly a matter among youths, some sad exceptions proving the rule. We certainly have to make a start with children and young persons. Something must and will be done here. The FOSD, however, is not going to get involved here, because I will charge them with different tasks.

Finances

I want the town’s financial standing to be solid. As a treasurer of the City of Aurich, I always used to keep an eye on cost control.
In Stade, the local government’s coffers are empty, too. We can’t afford to give anything away.

Stade will also need to be financially secure from 2008 onwards.
The consolidation of the municipal budget is a value in itself to me.

I have decided that in the future, the budget will firstly be dealt with in the finance committee, and only then in the technical committees and district councils. I say to the finance politicians of the parliamentary groups: Let us protect the town’s money against the unhindered access of the technical politicians! The council is not a place reigned by accommodation democracy. If we spend money, we will spend it on jointly selected investment programmes, as for instance, in the areas of infrastructure, culture or education.

At present, the City of Stade is doing well, and I hope that this will remain unchanged in the years to come, in our own interest and in the interest of our town. However, I do not wish to deny the fact that I am rather worried about the trend in trade tax as of 2008/2009. We must get prepared for a slump in trade taxes.

Consultation hours and contacts with citizens

I attach great importance to consultation and support, but also to information and instruction.

Starting in February, I am going to offer consultation hours for citizens – twice a month to begin with. I’d like to maintain this tradition of the previous mayors Heinz Dabelow and Hans-Hermann Ott and that’s why I too, am going to continue to use the former mayor’s office on the ground floor for it. By the way, my plan is that this room is going to be called Goldap room. We already have a Givat-Shmuel room and a Karlshamn room. Therefore, I am surprised that we haven’t taken into consideration our third twin town yet. I’d like to rename the room, when my colleague Marek Miros comes here in May.

Even as a full-time mayor, I will attend “golden weddings” and similar occasions at least once or twice a week. It’s also very important to me to get to know people who are not organised in brotherhoods, clubs or associations and to hear what they are or aren’t concerned about. I don’t want to meet just those belonging to the upper crust of the town all the time; otherwise, I would risk losing the sense of what is relevant to the general public.

Usually, you can find family and neighbours gathering on the sofa on such festive occasions. I have already experienced on two occasions that the administration and the locals can have completely different views of problems. And it is even possible that I will spontaneously ring a doorbell to ask people how they are feeling. Last year, I gathered a lot of useful experience this way.

My style of working, my style of communication

I certainly am a rational person, but I am no technocrat. For a technocrat, the technical side of a problem always takes priority over social and human aspects. That’s not my style.

As new mayor, I want to be genuine.
I believe in myself and I believe in the future of our town.

I don’t want to lose motivation for mobilizing my staff to work towards the prosperity of this town.

I will continue to set targets for myself and for my team again and again.

I am not only the head of the administration. As mayor, I must be willing to give directions for the development of the town. I hope I will ask the right questions, but I won’t just persist in having the right answers.

Leadership is necessary and I also want to offer it. I am not only a moderator. I think a chief executive mayor must also be some sort of “guide in difficult terrain” for the people.

A mayor helps to protect the town and its citizens from misdirection. He must be willing to constantly bring not only the administration back to the facts, but also the public; for I am aware that a lot of people prefer to be spared of change, to being mobilised for change.

A mayor therefore tries to actively move change forward.

I will judge myself according to these criteria and I also invite others to judge me accordingly.

Form of address,

Let us try to find out together what our town really needs and then decide together.

Those who believe that one has to fend for oneself in order to overcome all challenges and risks must get lonely and will end up ruining themselves. I also want to try and see the world and this town through your eyes.

Form of address,

I felt warmly welcomed here in Stade,
I felt received in a friendly way here.

As it says in a song by Hannes Wader, I wish I were more passionate and lion-hearted.

I wish to be a good and sensitive listener, so that I won’t become insensitive and indifferent to the needs of the people.

I wish I had an even clearer and more alert mind.

I wish myself a firm hand and a lucky touch to accomplish everything that has to be done.

I hope that after 8 years, you and I can be fairly satisfied with my work and my achievements.

I want us to join forces and to work closely together.

I want to mobilize people with all kinds of talents and skills for our town and to win new ones over.

This is my creed. Thank you very much.

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