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Is the Citizen Lacking in Intuitive Intelligence?The city council meeting on Thursday, November 7, was a charged atmosphere—many decisions were sought, but few questions were answered. 
After the city councillors were briefed on Monday and Tuesday regarding the IKIG decision item—to decide on the four agenda items concerning IKIG—plenty of questions remained unanswered. Already during the citizens' question round, only a few were addressed, with written responses promised. One present questioner pointed out that he had been waiting ten weeks for his written answer, which, according to Mayor Papke, already existed but had not yet been sent. It was promised he would receive it immediately. Former council member Gunter Walter, with his very complex question, appeared to some council members as a disruptive element. Even after repeated inquiries regarding the required impact analysis, the discussion was simply diverted to another topic. Councillor Riemer, true to his educational mission as head of the vocational schools in Weißenfels, felt compelled to accuse Walter of poor "manners" and questioned whether he had been raised properly. NOTE: THE VIDEO OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HAD TO BE TAKEN OFFLINE DUE TO AN EMAIL FROM A LAW FIRM ON BEHALF OF THE CITY COUNCIL. MORE ON THAT HERE! The present CDU faction members did not want to be filmed by the press, nor did the local mayor of Langendorf. Publication is generally permitted when done as part of fair reporting and when public interest takes precedence. Given some of the statements made in the council, it’s understandable they might not want their constituents to see how they behaved during the votes. – The spectators' gallery was filled with twelve individuals, plus two press representatives—one from a local print medium, and another filming for our online magazine. The agenda was extensive and required a lot of preparation from the councillors. Mountains of documents needed to be reviewed, many questions were asked, concerns and pleas voiced—even a historical account was used to emphasize the long-term importance of the decisions. Councillor Jörg Riemer referenced the construction of the railway connection in 1846, which caused a stir in the council back then. At that time, a decision was made *for* a modern city. He reminded his peers of the oath to the citizenry—to act for the future of the city, to avert suffering, and to seize opportunities when they arise. The council voted after a thorough discussion, and with the exception of 5 dissenting votes and 1 abstention, the following motions were passed and adopted: 026/2024_2 2nd Amendment to the Land Use Plan for the Development Plan for the Industrial and Commercial Area "An der A 9" in Langendorf – Resolution to Prepare the Plan, 028/2024_2 Development Plan for the Intermunicipal Industrial and Commercial Area Central Germany "An der A9" in Langendorf – Resolution to Prepare the Plan, 027/2024_2 Pre-emption Rights Ordinance for the Industrial and Commercial Area "An der A9" in Langendorf, 091/2024 Building Freeze According to §14 of the German Building Code for the Development Plan of the Intermunicipal Industrial and Commercial Area Central Germany "An der A9" in Langendorf. The establishment of a special-purpose association for the intermunicipal industrial and commercial area 102/2024 was also approved with the same distribution of votes. The provisions anchored in the association's statute were accepted, and it was noted that item C following § 15 would be removed. The request made by Councillor Wagner at the beginning of the meeting to postpone the vote on the founding of the association was rejected, as was the motion to bring forward the vote on the citizens’ referendum on the industrial and commercial area at the A9 001(VII)2024_2, submitted by the BfW/Rural Municipalities faction. After many other votes on the budget and sewage matters, it took over 2 hours before reaching the citizens' referendum item. At that point, the mayor casually remarked that citizens cannot grasp the full implications or complexity of the decision and that he believed they decide intuitively but not with foresight. The vote went against the proposal. – But what exactly was Mayor Papke trying to say? – Was he implying that the naive citizen lacks the ability to recognize complex issues? – Do his voters lack the intelligence to grasp the potential of the IKIG? The fact that some voters weren't bothered when the mayor himself appeared on the city council candidate list in the municipal election—despite not being able to hold both offices—might be an indicator, but the votes for Martin Papke as councillor could also have had other motivations. I’ll refrain from suggesting a lack of intellect here. After all, the more than 8,000 voters (for Papke) surely gave their votes thoughtful consideration. Right? That Walter began the meeting by asking whether the CDU faction had developed any new ideas for future development since the 1990s—apart from creating industrial zones—remains unanswered and will supposedly be addressed within the faction. Perhaps... someday... During the debates preceding the various IKIG votes, Councillor Heidi Föhre mentioned that the IKIG could also be seen as a solution to the vacancy crisis affecting all housing providers. That many apartments are in disastrous condition or that various administrations and landlords are uncooperative—regarding apartment size, contract exits, or unit switches—was, of course, not mentioned. She claimed to have a good overview, being a supervisory board member of a well-known housing association. The longer one sat through the city council meeting, the more obvious it became that some factions were primarily driven by their own agendas and economic interests. Critical questions, concerns, and inconsistencies were filed under "Needs to be reviewed," and it remains to be seen whether any of these will ever be addressed or answered. Whether it was ultimately a smart move to approve the IKIG despite serious concerns from some councillors is questionable. Not even the more than 3,000 signatures on a petition against the IKIG, handed in that evening by one of the initiators, made any difference. She was silenced because she allegedly didn’t live in the city. Where that information came from remains unclear based on what she said during her introduction at the microphone. All in all, the evening in the city council—lengthy as it was—was very interesting, if sobering. Apparently, our elected representatives possess more intuitive intelligence than the “average” citizen. Which somehow disqualifies us from understanding complex issues. The effort could have been made in advance to prepare the IKIG topic in a citizen-friendly way, using “simple” language to highlight the benefits, and then survey the citizens who, in the long run, will bear the project. But the “simple citizen” is apparently too dumb for that. Well, maybe it’s just me who sees it this way—because I’m unfortunately not dumb enough not to notice when I’m being taken for a fool. If you don’t want to be taken for a fool, feel free to write YOUR questions to the city council. Demand answers—after all, things must be explained to the little dumb citizen. Kind regards! Yours, Carla Koluma Author: AI-Translation - Carla Kolumná | 08.11.2024 |
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