POLITIK | POLITICS

PRESSE | PRESS [VERSION 20250906]

Elected as an independent candidate, I have been District Administrator of the Aichach-Friedberg district since May 1, 2014. With 66.9% of the vote, I clearly prevailed against three competitors in March 2020 and was re-elected for another six years with the best re-election result since Josef Bestler. Perhaps never before has a District Administrator—in addition to the usual challenges such as hospital deficits, public transport deficits, or declining revenues—had to deal with so many global crises that directly impacted municipal work: the refugee crisis continuously since 2015, the coronavirus crisis from 2020 to 2023, the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, the climate crisis; in addition, the shortage of skilled workers, exploding construction costs, etc. But local disasters have also struck the district: the 2015 tornado in Affing; the 2018 rail accident in Aichach; and 2024 Flood disaster (for the first time, a district administrator of the Aichach-Friedberg district declared a state of emergency).

My maxim: For the people. For the Wittelsbach region.First of all: No one can achieve success on their own. Anyone who believes that is wrong. It always takes a team – a team as great as the one of the Aichach-Friedberg District Council. Thanks also go to Deputy Manfred Losinger, Member of the State Parliament Peter Tomaschko, and everyone who has supported the district council over the past few years and wanted the best for the citizens. The following "I" is therefore a "we."

At the beginning of my first term in office in 2014, I set the political priorities in the district council by reorganizing the "Social Affairs, Education and Schools" and "Environment, Climate and Energy" committees to focus on educational development, health and medical care, elderly care and demographic processes, volunteerism, integration, and regional climate, environmental, and nature conservation. Examples of this include the district's certification as a Digital Education Region and an Eco-Model Region. The remunicipalization of the Augsburg Waste Management Agency (AVA) was also significant. (A complete overview of the first term provides detailed information.)

The projects approved by the previous district council – the replacement building for the Aichach Hospital, the new Mering High School, and the Affing-Bergen Secondary School – were fully funded and successfully completed during my first term, as was the renovation of the Friedberg High School.

My second term in office (2020 to 2026) saw the completion of the new Vinzenz-Pallotti School building, planned and finished in record time; the expansion and renovation of the Wittelsbacher Realschule in Aichach; the urgently needed extension of the district administration building after 50 years, along with the energy-efficient renovation of the old building; and the planning and start of construction of the Academy for Social Pedagogy in Aichach. In cooperation with Augsburg University of Applied Sciences, we succeeded in establishing the district as a university location by creating a Technology Transfer Center (TTZ) for the construction industry. Furthermore, I pushed forward the expansion of the vocational secondary school (FOS/BOS) in Friedberg, the expansion of the Mering Gymnasium to a four-track system, and the renovation and expansion of the Mering Realschule. The exemplary, albeit protracted, urban planning, ecological, and aesthetic development plans for subsidized housing on the site of the former Vinzenz-Pallotti School in Friedberg are being implemented by the district housing authority. A similar project was planned for the old hospital site in Aichach, but failed due to resistance from the city of Aichach. However, after years of protracted negotiations, Mayor Weber, District Administrator Sailer, and I succeeded in securing state funding for the further development of the Augsburg trade fair site, which is economically essential for the Swabia administrative region.

To ensure the district's future crisis-proofing in terms of civil protection and disaster management, a swap loader concept for the district's major fire departments was rolled out and financed, and concepts for blackouts, forest firefighting, relief contingents, etc. were finalized. The most important building block, however, was my initiative to establish a disaster management center with a breathing apparatus training course; both the land acquisition and building planning were completed in 2025. Starting in December 2025, a group of experts developed strategies for civil protection and civil defense.

Permanent priorities included a sustainable, affordable public transport and mobility concept (keyword: cooperation between AVV and MVV - a unique opportunity), the conceptual stabilization of the highly deficit-ridden clinics on the Paar River under the district's management (especially in light of the Lauterbach Hospital Reform 2024 passed by the federal government, which was a complete failure for rural areas), the establishment and expansion (2025) of the Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic (thanks to District Council President Sailer), and the sustainable development of the district (Agenda 2030).

As a measure to strengthen democratic awareness among young people, I established the Youth District Council – the only one in the Swabia administrative district to date – a regular body that enables young people to influence local political decisions at an early stage. This was instrumental in bringing the federal funding program "Live Democracy!" to the district.

In 2023, I initiated the "LRA 2025+" project to optimize the organization of the district office at all levels. With the move to the extension building, processes and procedures were also reviewed, particularly with a view to citizen services.
A particular success was bringing the Bavarian State Exhibition (City Liberated. Wittelsbach Founding Cities) to the district in 2020, together with the cities of Aichach and Friedberg.

In my role as District Administrator, I performed approximately 30 voluntary and activity-related tasks, including serving on the Board of Directors and Personnel Committee of the Augsburg Waste Recycling Company (AVA), the Supervisory Board and shareholder of the Augsburg Transport and Tariff Association (AVV), and the Supervisory Board and shareholder of the Augsburg Schwabenhallen Messe- und Veranstaltungs GmbH (ASMV). As chairman, I led, among other things, the Augsburg Recreation Area Association (EVA) and the Wittelsbacher Land e.V. and was a member of the Committee for Constitutional, Legal and Cultural Affairs of the Bavarian District Council (BLKT) and the Bavarian Hospital Association (BKG).