The search for the political felt is booming in the town hall. The CSU senses objectionable decisions by the Greens and the SPD in the context of filling a new chief post at the public utility company. And the ties between the Greens and the cultural organizer and party member Benjamin David should also be questioned, said parliamentary group deputy and chief felt hunter Hans Theiss this week. But this week, a prominent party colleague from the CSU is busy rejecting any suspicion.
Economics officer Clemens Baumgärtner uses such heavy verbal artillery as one rarely encounters around the town hall. He accuses the Left/The Party and Greens/Rosa Liste factions of accusing him of “illegal action, bargaining, taking advantage in office and much more.” “You cannot base any of these claims on facts. Rather, you distort them,” writes Baumgärtner in his answers to official questions from his critics. He notes an effort to “damage my person”.
Clemens Baumgärtner (CSU) defends himself against allegations.
(Photo: Lino Mirgeler/picture alliance/dpa)
The questions from the Greens and the Left revolve around the large concerts by the music promoter Klaus Leutgeb at the exhibition center last summer and his failed concert plans with the band Rammstein for New Year’s Eve on the Theresienwiese. It was about the contacts between the CSU speaker and the organizer, about awarding the catering for the trade fair concerts to a party colleague of Baumgärtner, about the cooperation of a city council colleague, about his personal role in the planned Rammstein concert.
“I reject all your allegations against me in the strongest possible terms,” writes Baumgärtner. The impression is given that the economic department or he himself “have acted in a non-transparent, wrong or even illegal way”. His house and he are only concerned with promoting and expanding the tourism and business location. “By that I understand not only the management of the existing, but also the active design in the sense of new ideas, new ways and new concepts.” Left and Greens would scandalize and criminalize his “activity, which has brought added value for the city of Munich”.
Left city councilor Stefan Jagel had accused the economics officer of “specialty economy”.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
Baumgärtner writes that he submitted the plans for the New Year’s Eve concert with Rammstein to the city council and the majority of them agreed. Left faction leader Stefan Jagel had accused him of “specialty trade”, whereupon Baumgärtner threatened legal action. The emotions surrounding the Rammstein project, which ultimately could not be realized due to the short preparation time, can be seen in the context of the three major concerts by Andreas Gabalier, Helene Fischer and Robbie Williams in the summer at the exhibition center. For the first time there were concerts in Munich with up to 100,000 visitors, and Baumgärtner is responsible for looking after the trade fair.
Baumgärtner explains that he does not know the trade fair’s contracts with the organizers, he paid for his tickets privately, he has never exceeded his authority and there can be no question of preferential treatment for Leutgeb compared to Munich organizers. He did not know the catering company of his party colleague, did not support it and did not provide it with information for the order. It had only been founded in the run-up to the major concerts.
In his multifaceted letter, Baumgärtner left open the specific question of how often he personally met the organizer Leutgeb. This was “supported to an extent that was appropriate in relation to the size of the events,” it says. Nevertheless, Baumgärtner now sees all allegations invalidated. So “crystal clear,” he says, that he will save himself the work of filing criminal charges against colleague Jagel from the left.