A city may stop at the city limits, but people’s problems and concerns do not stop there. “We have to work together,” says Ansfelden’s mayor Christian Partoll (FP) and sees himself in intensive exchange with his counterparts in the “fast-growing” district of Linz-Land. Nothing works alone.
An assessment shared by his counterpart in Traun, Karl-Heinz Koll (VP). So there are joint projects across the community boundaries. Example: the extension of the trolleybus line 43 from the city cemetery to the Trauner crossing, where Traun, Pasching and Leonding worked together. “We get along very well and are well networked with each other.”
The fact that the mayors meet, talk to each other and develop projects together is also an expression of many new incumbents after last year’s election. “A different type of politician was elected,” Pasching’s Mayor Markus Hofko (VP) is convinced. Looking exclusively at one’s own community has fallen out of time. The citizens no longer care. Quite apart from the fact that the major issues of our time (traffic, sustainability, ecology) affect everyone. And: “The days of lots of money are over,” says Hofko.
“We all have the same issues, the same problems,” says Pucking’s new mayor, Thomas Altof (FP), who sees the need to look beyond the community’s own borders. Here you can learn from the experiences of others, for example how to deal with the immigration. “It’s good when you can exchange ideas, ask colleagues how they do it. I never expected that.”
“If you can use synergies, then you should do that,” says Klaus Wahlmüller, Deputy Mayor of Hörsching, and refers to Pucking’s support in the area of accounting for the office.
A joint appearance vis-à-vis the city of Linz or the state of Upper Austria would also increase clout. The fact that the Linz-Land district is on the right track in this respect would be shown by the example of the large, long-discussed and important Traun/Ansfelden motorway junction and the “B139 Neu”. Like his colleagues, Partoll hopes that this project will now be implemented in the next few years. The country and Asfinag also see it that way.
This solidarity of the mayors is – despite all the fundamental interest in their own sphere of activity – the basis for finding solutions together. “The key is not to make any delay or prevention policy,” says Partoll. And Koll points out that once the bypass has been completed, the next task in the transport sector is waiting for the cities around Linz, namely the expansion of the tram system. This affects Pasching, Traun, Ansfelden and Leonding. “We know we need this.” (rgr)
Source: Nachrichten
