To illustrate the tricky thing with the local councilors and the babies, two episodes from the press archive can be used. In Kraiburg am Inn, a council member once brought his 14-month-old daughter to the meeting because he couldn’t find a babysitter. The Upper Bavarian Volksblatt noted diligently: When family support was the topic, little Ophelia contributed a confirming squawk, “to the amusement of everyone.” A bad-tempered committee would probably have resulted in the man staying at home that day. Two years ago, the Unterhaching local council voted for this. When a mother was missing there due to a lack of a babysitter, he quoted Munich Mercury An annoyed colleague from the Free Voters: If the woman “knew that she wouldn’t make it with a baby, she shouldn’t have run for office in the first place.” Ohh!
A small step against such injustice will now come into force at the beginning of the year. An amendment to local law, which also abolishes the upper age limit for mayors and district administrators, stipulates that, in addition to meeting fees, council members can have mandate-related costs for caring for relatives reimbursed. The best example: the babysitter on the evening of the meeting. Individual communities have already done this, in a gray area. Now there is the legal basis for this; Nevertheless, it is not an obligation for municipalities; the innovation would have to be decided individually on site. Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) appealed to cities and municipalities to see the authorization as an “encouragement” for a better compatibility of family and municipal mandate. As is well known, women in particular often shy away from volunteering in local politics. The new regulation can be a building block for more family friendliness. In councils of district municipalities in Bavaria, the proportion of women has been less than a quarter since 2020.
Municipal council president Uwe Brandl speaks of a “sweet treat”; after all, there has long been a “shortage of skilled workers, including in the political sector”. However, the Free State would have been happy to contribute financially. And perhaps the “watering can model” is not the best; well-off representatives probably don’t really need the few euros for the babysitter. Many communities will implement the option, Brandl believes. If one starts in one district, the neighboring town will not be inferior.