Walter Riedle and Jörg Pötke certainly have more in common than they distinguish. Both were mayors of Taufkirchen, both still take an active part in the local political life, both like to turn on the courts in the event of disputes and both are – to put it mildly – not exactly a close friendship with the current town hall chief Ullrich Sander. In addition, the two ex-mayors – and this is still cautiously formulated – have a high level of broadcast awareness, which is why they send more letters to the editor and press releases than come from the Taufkirchen town hall, for example. One of these letters has now led to a solid dispute between Riedle and Pötke, about which the latter has appealed to the Munich Regional Court. This then issued a temporary injunction, according to which Riedle is no longer allowed to designate his successor as a “deposed mayor”.
That is exactly what Riedle, who was at the top of the town hall from 1972 to 1990, did in a letter to the editor published in mid-November. You have to know: Jörg Pötke, who won the mayoral election in 2008 as a candidate for the Lebenswerte Taufkirchen initiative, was suspended in autumn 2012 due to allegations of bullying. He was never removed from his post. Rather, the proceedings against Pötke were discontinued before he officially resigned from office after the 2014 election. Since then, the dentist has always resisted claims to the contrary.
He also took legal action against allegations that he had “committed serious misconduct” as mayor. This formulation by representatives of the Taufkirchen housing association was deemed inadmissible by the Munich Regional Court in 2017 – and threatened with repetition of this assertion with a fine of up to 250,000 euros or an orderly detention for up to six months. Walter Riedle would have to expect the same punishment if he again called Pötke “literally or analogously” as a deposed mayor. The decision of the regional court is not yet final; Riedle can file a complaint against this within six months.