12.10.02021

incompetence

After 16 years as chairman of the association, I have gotten used to the fact that our city administration has difficulties with e-mail distribution lists and address lists — other city administrations train their employees accordingly. But what I still don't understand after all these years is that for the first time, the city administration is turning to anyone other than me when it comes to the club I run.

A city official can be as incompetent as the taxpayer will allow, but at least have a modicum of decency and courtesy.

Age

The beauty of our time and our country is that many of us can live to a very old age in the best of health. However, one “problem” that arises is that many of these lucky ones then seize and claim social or political positions “for eternity” and thus not only deprive subsequent generations of opportunities, but above all also at least slow down social change , if not prevent it for many decades.

So it is that in Germany we are now a good 30 years behind the rest of the world in many respects, and progress is only brought to us from outside — without globalization, faxes and copper cables would still be state of the art in Germany!

If we still want to save ourselves but above all give our grandchildren another chance, then it really is time that the current "public and state squatters" vacate their very comfortable and extremely lucrative seats and thus give our future a chance!

Kraftwerk

Heilbronn has had a coal-fired power plant with several blocks for decades. Although at times there were nuclear power plants in the immediate vicinity, this coal-fired power plant was not shut down. Large power plants are simply a very good and convenient source of income, with the consequential costs and collateral damage being borne by the general public.

For decades there has also been a debate as to whether it would not make much more sense and be more environmentally friendly to do without large power plants in favor of smaller units. Also about the fact that the biggest polluters should have been replaced long ago.

So by 2026 in Heilbronn it should be so far that one at least does without the coal - which is also far too valuable to just burn it! But the fact that a large power plant is now being used again — and not even a modern plant, let alone an environmentally friendly fuel — is probably due solely to the interests of the operator.

So I just hope that the municipal council has done its homework, because this decision will last into the 22nd century, not to mention the consequential costs for us Heilbronners. Now that the municipal council has approved the project, the citizens should now be able to join the discussion — that might have made sense if the necessary discussions had taken place before the relevant decisions were made.

But maybe the late discussions will at least achieve one goal, namely that both the power plant operator and the city administration work through the total costs of the Heilbronn coal-fired power plant - including the damage caused and long-term consequences - transparently and, above all, honestly. Both of us citizens still owe that!

And in addition, the operators and permitting authorities should be so responsible that they will show the citizens beforehand - before the operation of the already approved gas power plant - the expected consequences for the city and its citizens.

This transparency must become mandatory for all public buildings or buildings that affect the general public, because it is not primarily about the construction or construction costs, but primarily about the maintenance and ultimately also the demolition of such large-scale projects - including their consequences.

We could easily start with building roads and bridges.

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birthday of the day

Ralph Vaughan Williams