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Hart bei Graz: Lighthouses and an open wound

Mayor Jakob Frey wants to cross the finish line as the winner for a third time.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Jürgen Fuchs)

An elementary school, an armory, a bypass: a lot is planned in Hart bei Graz, but the really big project is off the table.

Jakob Frey has been in office for ten years. With his citizens' list, he has broken the decades-long SPÖ rule in the municipality surrounding Graz and recently achieved over 40 percent in the district despite a record list.

Education campus will now be realized in Feldkirchen
He had to find out on the 24,000 square meter Janischwiese that not everything you have in mind can be implemented with eleven of the 25 mandates despite a reorganized budget. An educational campus should have been built there directly on the main road, with a new elementary school, an educational institution for elementary education and, for the first time, an AHS, but the municipality was not in agreement. Feldkirchen is now delighted with the major project.

"All we had to do was say yes ..."
The stories differ as to the reasons for the failure: it was ready to be signed, says Frey, "all we had to do was say yes". But the coalition with the ÖVP collapsed over the issue, and in the end there was a free play of forces. In the end, the purchase was made for four million euros and at least the elementary school for 400 children should be completed by 2028.

The new building is to cover 8,000 square meters, while the rest of the site is to remain open space according to the ideas of SPÖ top candidate Andrea Ohersthaller. "People don't want a city," she says. She does not accept the criticism that the opposition led by the SPÖ is joining forces to torpedo the Bürgerlisten plans and points to the large number of unanimous resolutions in the municipal council. The solution for the Janischwiese also saved a lot of money, as up to 6.4 million euros had been earmarked for the campus variant.

In addition to the elementary school, the undisputed beacon for the coming period is the new construction of the Rüsthaus at a location with potential, and the other lists are also on board here. For the ÖVP, Petra Winkler, a former Citizens' List politician, is in first place, the Greens are led by Christina Auer-Haas, the FPÖ by Wolfgang Gaudy and the Neos by Jochen Kotschar. The latter three are defending one seat each, Frey's citizens' list is two seats short of an absolute majority.

Freeway exit and bypass
The new state and federal governments could also bring momentum to a long-standing issue in Harter in the next period: After years of discussions, Frey is hoping for the long-awaited go-ahead for the A2 exit and the adjacent bypass.

Wieder Wahlkrimi um wenige Stimmen?

Fernitz-Mellach: TikTok-Affäre und Satire-Wirbel

In Fernitz-Mellach, the house is on the rocks. "Until last week, relations were pretty good," says local leader Robert Tulnik (Citizens' List). Then the People's Party personally spat at his family. "It's amazing what level you can sink to," says Tulnik. "A satire section in our magazine", countered the black top candidate Georg Thünauer.

Black former mayors reactivated
The ÖVP had a lot to make up for, starting with the very narrow defeat five years ago with a difference of eleven votes. Now the two former mayors of Fernitz and Mellach before the merger, Karl Ziegler and Johann Wagner, are back to turn the tide.

An election campaign video on TikTok with neo-Nazi overtones had put them on the defensive. "The investigations are ongoing, I can only distance myself once again," says Thünauer. The SPÖ and FPÖ were recently in single figures, the Greens want to have a say this time.