Local elections coming up soon - April 19

On 19 April we will have both the mayoral election in Roßdorf (for the Bürgermeister) and the election of the leader of the regional parliament (for the Landrat).

According to Article 30 of the Hessische Gemeindeordnung (HGO), Germans and other European Union citizens who are resident in Germany have the right to vote.  Of course, in a truly democratic system nationality would not play a role - all residents would have the same rights.

As this is not yet the case, there are three steps that we can follow:

• encourage those who have not been disenfranchised to use their vote;
• by establishing an Ausländerbeirat give a voice to those who would otherwise be excluded from local and regional decision making;
• lobby for the extension of the franchise for regional and local elections irrespective of nationality.

On the 19 April, for those who can - use your vote.

Phase III - successfully completed

At the meeting of the Roßdorf town council (Gemeindevertretung) on 27 February 2015, the written questions (Anfrage) about the establishment of the foreigners' representation committee (Ausländerbeirat) were duly answered. The written answers follow:

Thanks were expressed for the answers and the positive tone was noted.  As a follow on question, I took the chance to ask how many asylum seekers and refugees would a) be entitle to vote and b) be eligible as candidates at the forthcoming election.  The period of residency required is 3 months and six months respectively and stateless residents are also eligible to take part.  The Mayor agreed to answer off-line, once the figures had been estimated.

I will ask the Mayor if I can join the meeting on 19 March at Roßdorf town hall.

Ausländerbeirat Phase III underway

The next step in the process to establish an Ausländerbeirat (foreigners' advisory council) in Roßdorf is underway. Phase III in the plan is get the council to explain what it plans to do in order to round up enough candidates for the election in November 2015. This is being done via an enquiry (Anfrage) asking the council what steps they plan to take.

Press reports progress

In today's Darmstädter Echo there was a report about the successful attempt to reduce the size of the Ausländerbeirat from 7 to 5.

http://www.echo-online.de/region/darmstadt-dieburg/rossdorf/Nur-noch-fuenf-Kandidaten-noetig;art1298,5641727

Phase II - successfully completed

At the meeting of the Roßdorf town council (Gemeindevertretung) on 14 November 2014, the motion (Antrag) to change the rules (Hauptsatzung) such that 5 rather than 7 candidates are required to set up a foreigners' representation committee (Ausländerbeirat) was unanimously approved.

The next phase (Phase III) in the plan is get the council to explain what it plans to do in order to round up enough candidates for the election in November 2015. This could be via a direct motion (Antrag) instructing the council to set something up, or via an enquiry (Anfrage) asking the council what steps they plan to take.

Phase I complete. Next step Gemeindevertretung

At this evening's meeting of the Main and Finance Committee (HFA) in Roßdorf the motion to change the main rules of the Council (Hauptsatzung) to reduce the number of members required to form the Foreigners' Representation Panel (Ausländerbeirat) from 7 to 5 was carried unanimously.

Next the motion will be presented to the full Council (Gemeindevertreung) where it will be addressed again under agenda item 11a.

The GFRoG Fraktion indicated that they too have a proposal to change the Hauptsatzung, but for an unrelated item concerning the size of the Gemeindevorstand (upper house of the Council).  We may try and find a way to consider the proposals separately, but only make one update to the Hauptsatzung.  Let's see.

First steps in kicking off the Ausländerbeirat

Next year (2015) in November will be the elections for the Ausländerbeirat (foreigners' advisory council) in Roßdorf.  At the last attempt the Council failed to get enough applicants to allow the election to take place.

This time around, in order to make things more productive, the first step will be to try and get the minimum number of candidates reduced from 7 to 5.  As we have around 1400 foreigners in Roßdorf, it should be possible to round up 5 candidates.

The change in the number of candidates needs to be adopted by the Council at its meeting on 14 November.  The Main and Finance Committee (HFA) will debate the change tomorrow 10 November, and make a recommendation to the Council.  The justification of the proposal is phrased like this:

"In § 84 der HGO ist festgelegt, dass in Gemeinden mit mehr als 1000 gemeldeten ausländischen Einwohnern ein Ausländerbeirat einzurichten ist. Laut Verwaltungsbericht I/2014 der Gemeinde Roßdorf, betrug die Zahl der ausländischen Personen in Roßdorf 1371 (Stichtag 30.06.2014).

Da sich bei der letzten Ausländerbeiratswahl nicht genügend Kandidaten gemeldet hatten, schlagen wir vor die Anzahl der Beiratsmitglieder von 7 auf 5 zu reduzieren, um die Hürden für die Einrichtung des Ausländerbeirates zu verringern. Diese Anzahl entspricht einem Verhältnis von einem Beiratsmitglied zu 274 ausländischen Einwohnern. Im Vergleich dazu liegt in der Gemeindevertretung das Verhältnis bei einem Gemeindevertreter zu 398 Einwohnern."