Grafing’s mayor, Christian Bauer (CSU), is known for being somewhat down-to-earth. Rhetorical questions like “Why make it complicated when it can be done easily?” he likes it. And so, in the December meeting of the city council, he easily passed on the agenda item “Local audit 2021; presentation of the audit report” to his treasurer Veronika Kainz. As mayor, as far as Bauer knew, he was not allowed to lead the agenda item. The law has built in this safety mechanism so that mayors have as little to do with relieving the burden on the administration – and thus also on their own. Of course, the treasurer is also part of the administration, which some also pointed out to the mayor at the meeting. Therefore, one of the deputy mayors usually jumps in for a short time during the audits. They do not belong to the narrow administrative circle within the meaning of the free state municipal code.
Possibly because Bauer is reluctant to be talked into decisions that have already been made, the scepter of chairing the meeting remained with Kainz. She routinely ran through the formal program, asked the auditors about any objections and finally called for a vote. There were no dissenting votes, the city administration was relieved.
However, the next morning in the Grafinger city council haze, the question of the end of the shirt sleeve arose, ergo: whether the decision from the previous evening was valid at all? Of course he wasn’t, as Bauer could have read about in the municipal code. But even when the district office began to take an interest in the matter, the town hall wanted to moderate the matter, well, with timidity: Kainz only gave the factual presentation at the meeting, it was played back to Ebersberg. If that were true, there could not have been a decision at the meeting. Now the matter also began to seem strange to the municipal lawyers in Grafingen town hall.
But because the shirtsleeves are rolled up and down there a little slowly, the municipal ordinance was only satisfied with some delay. “Local Audit 2021; Submission of Audit Report” can now be read in the summons to the March City Council meeting. As the mayor explained when asked, this is a repetition of the December vote. However, with the difference that instead of Kämmerin Kainz, Second Mayor Johannes Oswald (Greens) will now call for a vote. In any case, Oswald will have to hurry. If 15 minutes were planned for the procedure in the December meeting, it will only be five minutes next Tuesday. If nothing goes wrong!