Mayor Markus Vogl (SP) will probably take stock at a press breakfast at the beginning of 2023 and look forward to the new year. “In times of rising prices and extraordinary burdens for people, a mayor’s reception would send the wrong signal,” says Vogl to the Steyrer Zeitung. If the situation eases up a bit by the summer, “I can imagine that we as a city will host a summer festival”.
The New Year’s reception has so far – if not slowed down by Corona – been more than a balance sheet talk by the city manager, but also a show of the Steyr city celebrities. Around 200 invited guests from politics, business, the authorities, the education system, the service clubs and administration met for a feast and an exchange of ideas in the town hall. For some, a must-attend event among many, an invitation to the reception was for others confirmation that they had made it and belonged to a select group of people. Nothing will come of this show, albeit on a very local stage, early next year.
Internally, this is also justified by the long lead time for this event, including complex organization and the simultaneous uncertainty of how the pandemic will develop. Since politics always has a lot of symbolic power, the decision made by Vogl and his team is understandable and will probably not – if at all – be publicly questioned by anyone.
Source: Nachrichten
