Cologne's ex-OB Schramma calls for the return of the senior city director!

Cologne's ex-OB Schramma calls for the return of the senior city director!

Köln, Deutschland - Cologne's former mayor Fritz Schramma raises the alarm! The city administration, with its 24,000 employees, seems oversized, while citizens suffer from inadequate services. Schramma demands the return of a senior city director who could lead the administration more efficiently. "The dual leadership worked in the past and the results were better," he explains. But the abolition of this position only tightened the problems. Long approval procedures, ailing infrastructure and inadequate public order are just a few of the challenges that the city plague.

Cologne's housing market in the crisis

"The housing market here is a disaster," said Schramma, who was mayor from 2000 to 2009. He urgently demands more affordable living space and an active program of the city to improve the situation. Despite the reports of the IFO Institute on the lack of order at housing construction companies, Schramma sees the city as a duty to close construction gaps and to provide areas. "Nobody can live where there are no apartments today," he warns. The social question of living is becoming increasingly pressing, since even the employees of the police, care and schools can no longer afford apartments.

Schramma also comments on the political situation in Cologne. The current mayor Henriette Reker is viewed critically by him, and he sees little ambition in her politics, especially in times of crisis. Compared to other cities, such as Düsseldorf, where the OB Stephan Keller does respectable work, Cologne looks after. "An OB has to have more scope for design," says Schramma and pleads for a reduction in the council to improve the ability to act. The challenges are great and the citizens of Cologne are waiting for solutions!