Tips from the old town councillor
Of expulsions, voter frustration and the path to the budget
With the series "Klagenfurt saves", the "Krone" wanted to find savings ideas in the budget crisis. Old Town Councillor Walter Zwick, who guaranteed a budget in the town hall for 24 years, did the analysis. Zwick takes the politicians to task, understands the voters' frustration - and knows the way forward for a budget.
With the series "Klagenfurt saves", the "Krone" has outlined many topics that are important for a budget during the budget crisis and pointed out many new savings ideas. Walter Zwick was the last dazzling and successful finance officer. The former VP mandatary sat in the town hall from 1979 to 2009 and was responsible for the budget for over 20 years. And regardless of whether the mayors were Leopold Guggenberger, Harald Scheucher or Christian Scheider, he handled all financial situations very well.
"There is currently no one in the town hall who is actually implementing the proposals. Even if the wind is blowing hard in your face. The politicians in the town hall have lost all trust anyway. Because far too often there have only been announcements, but nothing has been or will be implemented. Many of the ideas in this series are perfectly acceptable," says Zwick. "Janos Juvan's proposal to send employees into retirement at 62, when they have had their months, is very clever. It can save a lot of money for the city treasury in the long term.
Vacationers would have been kicked out of the town hall
However, going on vacation for weeks at a time in very difficult financial times, as many city councillors or a deputy mayor have recently done, is absolutely unacceptable. In the past, they would have been thrown out of the town hall on edge for such a long vacation," says Zwick.
"There has to be city marketing, it exists in every city. For an indoor pool, you should go to the Ostbucht or to my friend Toni Pletzer on the Südring, if a cheaper indoor pool could really be set up there in the Pletzer leisure park. The airport should remain, and not only the province but also the city of Klagenfurt must continue to put up the money for it."
Bus system urgently needs to be changed
Other things need to be changed or stopped. "For example, the bus service. I constantly see buses running empty all day long. That currently costs 19 million euros. Large buses are needed for morning services, but during the day you have to switch to electric minibuses. In the evenings, shared cabs are a good alternative. The cabs even come to your front door after a call. And the need for public transport is no longer that great in the evening."
More money should be made with the Wörthersee stadium. "Thank God I managed to ensure that it wasn't demolished. You should generate more revenue with lots of events. Because it is still a magnificent facility and almost all concerts are sold out.
"The state should save the city budget"
The public order office should be disbanded. It only costs money, the benefit for the city is too small. The transfer payments from the city to the state also make me shudder. In 2009 I was still paying 35 million euros, today it's 110 million. That would solve the budget problem. 19 million is missing. It must be possible for the state to give the city 20 million euros in the difficult times we are going through now - and we would have a budget. And Klagenfurt would still pay three times the amount I had to transfer in 2009.
Control against excessive overtime
Independent monitoring must also be carried out in the town hall. Control is always important. Especially now, when every penny counts. The City Court of Audit has also been installed. It has major problems doing its job. Why? With an audit, the overtime stops. And it would also solve the staffing problem. Requests for new hires for children or good acquaintances would be history with a real control. Because then these questions would no longer exist in the town hall.
I used to make a profit with the council apartments. That was the problem. Now it costs a lot of money. But social housing is needed."
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