There were two recent proceedings that turned Andreas Starke (SPD) into a tightrope walk between legal self-defense and government mandate. One of the proceedings – it concerns the suspicion of breach of trust and an associated raid on the town hall – will drag on for a long time, and the public prosecutor will probably only decide at the end of the year whether there will be an indictment. The other procedure is now complete. The Bamberg District Court had issued a penalty order against Starke seven months ago for violating official secrets, and the OB had appealed against it. But he has now withdrawn it. So there is a fine of 60 daily rates.
Well then? In an interview with the SZ, Starke, 64, spoke of a situation that had “quite hit him in human terms” and brought him to the “limits of his capabilities” in recent months. A public trial – the trial was scheduled for mid-August – would have been “stressful for everyone”. Not only for him, but also for the town hall employees concerned. A public criminal trial is also damaging “the city’s image”.
Few people in Bamberg are likely to contradict this, as the city has been in permanent crisis mode since dozens of investigators combed the rooms of the town hall. Obviously, the OB does not want to expose the city or his party to further legal skirmishes. Especially since Starke had already admitted errors in the now ended procedure in January and apologized for them. “Consciously”, however, he did not want to have violated the registration law.
In the 2020 local election campaign, Bamberg’s SPD wrote to EU citizens without German citizenship who were eligible to vote in their mother tongue – after the competent registration authority had transmitted requested data upon request. Specifying your citizenship. That was not correct. Address data for election advertising may in principle be given out. However, the “citizenship” criterion may not be specified by the administration. Starke had admitted to having “overlooked” this as the employer of the city administration, but refused legal punishment. Well, a few weeks before the start of the process, the pressure has apparently become too great.
A break in the air? Starke admits in the SZ conversation that in the course of the town hall raid in May, investigators also focused on his private property. Along with others, he is also considered to be the accused in this second proceeding. In essence, the investigation is about the question of whether the overtime lump sums for city hall employees that the legal supervisory authority complains about are also punishable by criminal law. Such a complaint is not a prejudice for possible infidelity, that is clear.
Is there a scenario in which he as mayor has to think about resigning? Strong people are combative. “That is out of the question, very categorically,” he says. There is currently a lot to do in Bamberg, such as conversion, including the expansion of the ICE railroad. He will now dedicate himself to this “with energy, joy, commitment”.
Strong party in any case breathes a sigh of relief for the time being. “Absolutely the right decision, now the pressure is out,” says Jonas Merzbacher, vice-head of the Upper Franconian SPD.