Politics - An Overview

The City Council

The most important decision-making body is the city council. The local government act defines what decisions the city council must take and may not therefore delegate to committees or to the lord mayor: These include establishing the general rules of procedure for administration, appointing committee members and deputy mayors, setting the budget, and determining rates or property tax.
The full-time lord mayor, who is also head of administration, is no longer a member of his political party’s faction. He is however chairman of the city council and has the same voting right as any other member of the council except for a few cases stipulated in the local government act.

For further questions please contact
ratsangelegenheiten@herne.de.

Council Committees

Committees support the city council and serve as the link between council and administration. The law requires the formation of a “main committee”, a finance committee, and an audit committee. Other regulations stipulate that a schools committee, child/youth welfare committee and a scrutiny committee must be set up. Herne also has additional committees which advise on other important policy issues such as, for instance, planning and urban development, social affairs, sports, and culture and education.
Committee members are appointed by the city council. Apart from councillors, knowledgeable citizens (a citizen is a person who is qualified to vote in municipal elections) and residents (a resident is a person who lives in the municipality) can be committee members. However, only councillors can serve on the three obligatory committees.

Council for Integration

Upwards of a certain size, all towns and cities must set up an advisory board for the immigrant population (Ausländerbeirat). In January 2004, Herne was the first city in North Rhine Westphalia to receive permission to set up a Council for Integration in place of an advisory board for the immigrant population.
The Council for Integration is an independent, democratically elected body of the city of Herne. It has a membership of 23. Of these, 15 are directly elected by the non-German population and eight are councillors nominated by Herne city council. The Council for Integration is appointed for a term of five years.
The Council for Integration can address all issues relating to the community. In particular, it endeavours to resolve problems that arise when people of different cultures live together.
The Council for Integration is a member of the State Task Force of Municipal Migrant Representatives (LAGA Nordrhein-Westfalen).

For further questions please contact
integrationsrat@herne.de.

Consultative Groups (Beiräte)

Apart from the committees, Herne city council has set up a number of consultative groups. These are made up of representatives of various associations, professional and trade organizations, and the city council. Their resolutions are submitted as recommendations to the decision-making civic bodies. In Herne we have consultative groups for landscape conservation (Landschaftsbeirat), for people with disabilities (Behindertenbeirat), and for displaced persons in the region (Kreisvertriebenenbeirat).

Factions and Groups

City and ward councillors are organized according to their political party membership into city and ward factions. These bodies are engaged in organizational and political work and see themselves as a link between the parties and the city council or ward council (Bezirksvertretung).
For the first time, their tasks and rights have been legally anchored in the new local government act: Factions act as independent groups of members of the city council or ward council in policy formation and decision making. They have the right to information, the power of initiative, and the right to alter a legal relationship. For example, they can request a statement from the lord mayor about an item on the agenda during a council session (right to information), they can demand that the council be convened and an issue included on the agenda (power of initiative), and they can determine the composition of committees and the appointment of committee chair persons.
Like the political party factions, the groups are alliances of city council or ward council members with common political positions who work together on policy issues. Groups consist of at least two members, while a party political faction in the Herne city council must have at least three members.

For further questions please contact
ratsangelegenheiten@herne.de.

Ward councils

With the urban reorganization of 1975, the legislator required all towns and cities that were not part of an urban district (Kreisfreie Städte) to divide up the entire urban area into wards (Stadtbezirke). For each ward – in the case of Herne these are Herne-Mitte, Sodingen, Wanne and Eickel – a representative body had to be formed whose members, like those of the city council, are elected for a term of five years.
A ward council has between 11 and 19 members.
The duties of the ward council relate to issues within that particular ward. They are responsible, e.g., for the maintenance and equipment of schools, for the maintenance of parks and gardens, for the maintenance of roads and pathways.
The ward councils have to be consulted on all important issues relating to their specific ward (Anhörungsrecht). As a rule, ward council meetings are held in the respective ward.

Children’s and Youth Parliament

The Children’s and Youth Parliament (KiJuPa) was set up in 1992 by the then lord mayor of Herne, Willi Pohlmann. A youth policy forum, the KiJuPa is Herne’s “official” partner for the interests of children and young people. It gives them the opportunity to have their views heard in the city. If they are not happy with the state of playgrounds or schoolyards, for example, or if there are not enough leisure activities, they can have a say in local government planning and decisions through the Children’s and Youth Parliament.
In Herne, children have the chance to air their ideas and suggestions for improvement and to put them into practice. Wherever the interests and concerns of children and young people are concerned, the KiJuPa has to be heard and involved in accordance with the local government act, e.g., organization of events, construction or alteration of schoolyards, roads, leisure amenities, playing fields and sports grounds.

For further questions please contact
kijupa@herne.de.