Bamberg’s Lord Mayor Andreas Starke (SPD), 65, must have had troubled hours on Friday night. The local Greens met for their annual general meeting, and about an hour and a half to midnight began to debate three motions which were at least fundamental to Starke’s political career; if not – for the time being – more decisive. Since the Hof public prosecutor’s office investigated the so-called bonus affair for possible infidelity in the Bamberg city hall and at the latest since a city hall raid, the debate in the largest parliamentary group in the Bamberg city council has not come to rest: Do we have to act? Should we? Or are we not allowed to do so before something has not even become legally clear in the beginning?
As far as one can say, there can hardly be a silver bullet in this question. Because, of course, investigations place a heavy burden on any town hall administration – and especially its boss, even if it does not fundamentally paralyze work. So there are good reasons to say that you don’t want to continue working like this. There are, of course, at least as good reasons not to break the baton before the possibility arises that the investigation will ultimately dissolve in favor. That was probably how the three motions that Bamberg’s Greens – around 60 voters were present – had to decide on were to be interpreted. Then there was the motion that the Greens should now take action and push for Starke’s resignation. Others advocated calling for resignation should prosecutors actually bring charges. In the end, however, those who want to wait and see whether charges will be brought prevail with a clear majority – and then convene a special plenary session on the basis and vote on whether they want to call for the resignation.
Should it actually come to that, the Greens would not be the first. The so-called BBB parliamentary group – an amalgamation of ÖDP, Volt and Bambergs Mitte – had already called for this, but had to take some severe criticism for it. And that’s precisely because the public prosecutor’s office has so far made no suggestion as to whether the evidence will ultimately be sufficient for an indictment of infidelity – regardless of the fact that the government of Upper Franconia, as the legal supervisory authority, massively took over the financial conduct in the town hall, especially opaque overtime flat rates, in June Had drawn doubts.
“We are happy that we have now voted,” says Eva-Maria Steger, member of the board of the Bamberg Greens. The previous status quo had repeatedly led to internal debates. Before the decision was made, it was agreed that the parliamentary group – without being formally bound to it – would join it. But Steger also says that the decision to resign, even in the event of a later demand by the Greens, will be “solely with Andreas Starke”. On the other hand, governing against the Greens is unlikely to be possible in Bamberg for the mayor in the long term. The public prosecutor’s office in Hof has announced that it will decide in about two months whether there will be an indictment.