Will the Greens field a candidate for mayor, or will Reiner Breuer receive party backing?
Five years ago, the Social Democrats (SPD) secured a majority in Neuss, Germany, pushing the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) into opposition. Sascha Karbowiak, the SPD faction leader, notes this historical shift with a chuckle but swiftly transitions to addressing serious issues. One of these is the housing crisis: every second person in Neuss has a claim to a housing entitlement certificate, prompting the city to tighten the allocation of affordable housing units.
Karbowiak also criticizes the CDU's previous policy, which allowed for luxury apartment construction without publicly-funded housing in significant projects such as the former tax office site, Marianum, and Schulstraße. In contrast, the SPD and Greens have actively advocated for strengthening the social fabric of Neuss. Measures include maintaining free childcare for children between the ages of 3 and 6, increasing the budget for child, youth, and family support by 16 million euros, and providing tablets for all students at no additional cost to parents.
The SPD, along with Green party leaders Erhard Demmer, Bettina Weiß, Heinrich Thiel, and Manfred Haag, have numerous accomplishments to their credit. Among these are doubling funds for care, building cycling paths, improving bus connections, planting over 1,000 trees annually, developing an ecologically-oriented green care plan, funding for roof and facade greening, faster school renovations, a 25 million euro climate protection fund, a municipal heat plan, expanding the communal service and public order department, the introduction of waste detectives, and a series of measures for the city hall area.
Highlights include the realization of the state garden show in 2026, which faced resistance from other factions, and the development of the new district in Hammfeld, promising more than 1,500 apartments. Neuss is also a thriving economic location, with the second-highest commercial tax revenues in North Rhine-Westphalia and a rise in job numbers from 72,000 to 85,000 between 2020 and 2025.
"We have good ideas that have been successfully implemented, even with changing majorities in the city council," says Rosemarie Franken-Weyers. Bettina Weiß hints at continued cooperation between Social Democrats and Greens in Neuss after the local election.
The future of the Green party's mayoral candidate remains undecided. During their meeting on May 7th, they will discuss this matter, including the possibility of supporting Reiner Breuer (SPD) in his mayoral campaign. Erhard Demmer, sharing his experience in local politics since 1983, remarks on the positive shift in the city's atmosphere following the last local election. The CDU, presumably, would have a different perspective on this.
The SPD and Greens, having advocated for strengthening the social fabric of Neuss, have implemented various policies such as maintaining free childcare, increasing child, youth, and family support, and providing tablets for students. Contrastingly, the CDU's previous policy permitted luxury apartment construction without publicly-funded housing in significant projects, which the current administration now addresses.
