Mayor answers questions from Lauterborn and Rosenhöhe

"Offenbach is a poor city" - with this statement, the mayor referred to the city's financial situation and justified his commitment to economic development. The background to the financial situation is the loss of industrial jobs in the 1990s and 2000s. At that time, 80 percent of jobs in Offenbach's industrial sector were lost, accounting for 40 percent of all jobs in Offenbach. "The financial situation makes almost everything more difficult and is therefore our city's biggest problem," emphasized Lord Mayor Schwenke. His vision for the city is for Offenbach to become a "financially halfway normal city". Three things are important for this: economic development, an economical administration and distributing the costs of social legislation in such a way that the federal and state governments bear the majority of the costs and not the local authorities. Offenbach is therefore involved in the alliance "For the dignity of our cities", for example. One of the aims of economic development is to keep the companies already based in the city. Schwenke cited numerous examples where this has worked. But of course it is also about creating the conditions for new companies to settle here. "It is important for the city to attract companies from various sectors to Offenbach. Because we need jobs for both highly and low-skilled workers," emphasized the mayor. The city has recently achieved some successes in this regard: The valve manufacturer Samson with 2,000 jobs and the biotech company BioSpring will settle in the new Offenbach Innovation Campus in the east of the city. The creative industries are also important for Offenbach, with various creative agencies based in Nordend and the new building at the harbor providing the Hochschule für Gestaltung with a new location.

When it comes to cycling, the city wants to work with the Radentscheid initiative to make cycling in the city safer. In terms of road traffic, all major intersections are being digitized, reported Schwenke. In concrete terms, this means that traffic will be controlled and optimized in real time. The aim is for road users to move as quickly as possible while reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Rents have also risen in Offenbach. Affordable housing is therefore also an important issue. Schwenke reminded the audience that the city will keep the number of publicly subsidized apartments in its municipal building cooperative GBO constant until 2028 and that the city has transferred all municipal properties, seven in total, to GBO for new housing projects.

Another important concern is Offenbach's city center: the city has created the city center future concept together with citizens and other stakeholders. Some of the projects contained therein are already being implemented. "You need occasions to come to the city center," explained Schwenke. These can be events, but also beautiful places. A so-called green belt and the renovation of the market square are intended to create a better quality of stay. Events such as the street opera, beer exchange and beach club in summer will also create occasions for people to enjoy coming to the city center. The climate and weather workshop, temporary artists' stores and events in the town hall pavilion are also intended to attract people to the city center. "There is not one big measure to revitalize the city centre, but a thousand little things," summarized the mayor.

Many of those present were also concerned about the quality of life and traffic. One woman complained about the dirt and pigeon droppings on the covered area opposite the KOMM entrance and at the train station. The Lord Mayor and Anne-Kathrin Kaiser from ESO fully understood this. But the building on Aliceplatz belongs to Deutsche Post and the train station to Deutsche Bahn, the city and ESO are in close contact with both, but the owners are absolutely responsible here. Citizens can report soiling directly to the city online at any time via the Offenbach defect reporter. Another woman from the audience was also concerned about cleanliness, complaining about the broken glass on the cycle path on Dietzenbacher Straße. There were two glass containers right next to the cycle path. The ESO and the public order office want to check whether they can be placed somewhere else. An overgrown footpath between Vorderwaldweg and Schwarzwaldweg was also criticized, forcing pedestrians to walk on the cycle path. The ESO will have the grass mowed there.

Road safety on Dietzenbacher Straße was raised by several attendees. Drivers had poor visibility when pulling out of their driveways, which could lead to accidents with cyclists. Jan Schmidbauer from the road traffic authority pointed out that it was advisable to drive out slowly and show consideration for each other. The proposal to extend the 30 km/h zone to the entire road was not feasible. According to the law, the speed may only be reduced on main roads if there are special reasons for doing so. It was possible near the crosswalk on Dietzenbacher Straße because this used to be an accident blackspot. The city has already measured the speed of all road users with a side radar. The measurement data was necessary for the approval of a mobile speed camera, the "enforcement trailer". The application for approval has been submitted to the police, explained Peter Weigand, head of the public order office.

There were also questions about the one-way street on Senefelder Straße: between Birkenlohrstraße and Weikertsblochstraße, drivers are only allowed to drive out of town. The road is only intended for residents. Ivonne Gerdts, Head of the Office for Mobility, explained that this is an attempt to calm traffic. The office is observing what effects this has on traffic. The non-genuine one-way street ensures that residents can still reach their homes. Drivers heading for the city center are not residents and can get there via the Odenwaldring and Waldstraße - or alternatively via Sprendlinger Landstraße.

A mother of several children asked about the daycare situation in Offenbach and suggested creating more meeting places for mothers with a migration background in order to better integrate them linguistically. Mayor Schwenke explained that the city was fulfilling its legal obligation to offer every child a childcare place until they reach the age of five. Language support and meeting places are very important to the city, which is why there are various parents' meetings, initiatives such as "Mama learns German" and language support in the city's daycare centers. All offers can be found at www.offenbach.de under Family and Social Affairs under "Offers for parents" and in the family guide. The website can also be automatically translated into various languages in the top right-hand corner.

There were also questions about the plans for the swimming pool on Rosenhöhe. Despite the construction work, the swimming pool is open for summer use, reported Schwenke. The city is investing in a new air dome to keep the pool open in winter. There are also plans to upgrade the 25-metre pool into a non-swimmers' pool and to build new swimming pool equipment, changing rooms and showers.