FDP’s Open Group Meeting Establishes Itself as a Dialogue Format
During the local election campaign, the FDP had announced that it would make its city council work more transparent and more strongly geared towards dialogue with citizens. The new FDP city council group is now …
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During the local election campaign, the FDP had announced that it would make its city council work more transparent and more strongly geared towards dialogue with citizens. The new FDP city council group is now consistently putting this commitment into practice: on 29 July 2026, it invited people to an open group meeting at Passau town hall for the second time. Former city council candidates, members and interested citizens were given an insight into the group’s ongoing work and the political projects coming up.
Group chairman Prof. Dr. Holm Putzke reported that the FDP has already turned key points of its election manifesto into concrete motions and initiatives. These include a new economic and location strategy for Passau, the introduction of a youth council and a reorganisation of the traffic situation on the station forecourt.
In addition, the group is taking up concerns raised by citizens. These include a footpath and cycle path along Alte Poststraße, calls for better noise protection and the traffic situation at the Anger. “We don’t just want to put forward our own proposals, but also to take action where citizens have been waiting years for solutions,” explained Putzke.
Deputy group chairman Prof. Georg Steiner drew an overall critical balance of the first three months. Instead of an objective debate about good proposals, he said, all too often one experienced political shows of strength by the city council majority. Moreover, examining and implementing necessary changes often took too long. This applied, for example, to the reorganisation of the station forecourt. Nor had sufficient political will been apparent so far to make Grünaustraße more attractive.
Putzke and Steiner also criticised the fact that political intervention is often needed first, even on important factual matters. This concerns, for example, speed limits on federal and state roads or subsidies for the new Da Vinci surgical robot at Klinikum Passau. “This shows that the administration reaches its limits without clear political decisions and the corresponding backing,” the two city councillors agreed.
The participants in the open group meeting particularly welcomed the numerous initiatives and the active public relations work of the FDP office holders. FDP district chairman Nick Kelldorfner was pleased with the committed start made by the new group. Visible and determined work on the city council, he said, was also of great importance for the revival of the FDP as a whole.
Even if not every initiative succeeds straight away, the FDP group is clearly generating momentum. It sets the agenda, raises the pace and brings new impetus to Passau’s local politics. “We want to be uncomfortable where necessary. We are not after a popularity prize, but a critical and at the same time constructive scrutiny of city politics – for the good of Passau and its citizens,” stressed Putzke.
The post Offene Fraktionssitzung der FDP etabliert sich als Dialogformat first appeared on FDP Fraktion | TEAM Putzke.