A “grande dame” leaves the local political stage. Cornelia Irmer has been involved for more than 17 years. From 2007 to 2014 she was a non-party mayor in Geretsried. Most recently she sat for the free voters in the district council of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen. She recently resigned her mandate. “I didn’t make the decision easy for myself,” she addressed her farewell words to the committee in the multi-purpose hall at the Geretsried school center. “But it’s the right time.” The successor is Michael Lindmair from Tölz.
She and her husband Klemens, who worked as a deacon, had held professions and honorary offices for many years, which took up many evenings and weekends. Now it’s their turn to enjoy the time they’ve been given as a couple. “We are healthy,” said Irmer. This is lucky. She and her husband would like to spend the years to come together. Therefore, she withdraws from local politics.
In 2014, Cornelia Irmer ran for the district council for the first time. After District Administrator Josef Niedermaier, she achieved the second-best result at the time. She was able to repeat this success in 2020. Niedermaier emphasized that he let the grande dame of the district council go with a crying eye. Cornelia Irmer made a significant impact as mayor of Geretsried and later on of the district. In her work as a local politician, her great life experience as well as those values ”that have shaped you” have always flowed. Irmer was quite argumentative. “You have to be that in order to work out good solutions,” said the district administrator in parting.
Speaker Hubert Oberhauser thanked Irmer on behalf of his group. Her departure is a great loss for the Free Voters. Irmer was always rhetorically strong and had vision. “Our hearts hurt a little,” he said. But in view of the fact that an experienced local politician succeeds in Lindmair, one can get over the loss. “I learned a lot from you,” said Oberhauser. He will therefore not shy away from asking Cornelia Irmer for her advice in the future.
Most recently, Irmer asked the district council members to ensure good cooperation in the future. That was mostly the case during her time on the board – “with a few exceptions”. You are allowed to voice criticism, but not if someone else feels offended or hurt by it. Mutual respect is important. There are topics that a controversial debate is not good for, said Irmer, before she left the meeting with her husband Klemens, who had sat in the audience gallery.