In order to obtain an opinion from the population before making political decisions, the municipality of Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn will in future be using a citizen participation app. This was decided by the local council after an intense debate in which criticism was also expressed of the Democy program, which is now to be tested for a year for the time being – at a price of 8,000 euros. Citizens can use the app to vote on local political issues that have previously been asked by the local council or citizens. After Kirchheim and Neubiberg, Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn is the third municipality in the district to rely on the offer of the startup Democy.
“The app should give us a picture of the mood for certain questions, but it will not make the decisions for us,” said Mayor Mindy Konwitschny (SPD). “That should be an additional component in the subject of citizen participation.” The app was developed by the IT specialist Julius Klingenmaier from Würzburg, who advertised it in his presentation in the local council as a “simple, inexpensive way to take citizens with you on any project”. Does a certain street need a bicycle protection lane? Should a playground be built on this meadow? And do you need a pedestrian light at that intersection? The users of the free Democy app vote on such questions via tablet or smartphone – with “for”, “against” or “no opinion”. Participation is anonymous, emphasized Klingenmaier. All questions would be checked beforehand by the operator in cooperation with the municipality. “And the nice thing about the app is that you can question citizens again and again – and the user base is growing steadily,” said Klingenmaier.
“Do you need it?” Asked Otto Bußjäger (Independent Citizens). “I say yes. If we want to develop democracy further, we need just such an instrument to involve people.” Karsten Voges (Greens) expressed himself incomparably more skeptically, with a view to the manageable customer base of Democy, who said: “I think we should put the issue of civic participation in other hands.” Some council members also expressed the fear that non-residents could use the app to take part in votes on Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunner issues and thus “may even consciously influence the result,” said Roland Spingler (CSU). And Gudrun Hackl-Stoll (Greens) warned that some could feel frustrated if they voted several times on topics that were not implemented according to their wishes. In the end, like her party colleague Voges, she voted against the introduction of the democracy app in Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn.