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Jürgen Helbing would like to remain mayor of Lorcher

By Thorsten Stötzer

Published on May 16, 2019 at 3:00 am, last changed on May 16, 2019 at 3:20 am

Jürgen Helbing is applying for a third term in the Lorch town hall for the CDU. A senior citizen's facility and a medical care center are on his agenda.

Jürgen Helbing on the terrace of the Hilchenhaus: Its renovation is one of the highlights of his tenure. Photo: Thorsten Stötzer

LORCH - With 60.8 percent of the vote, Jürgen Helbing won the mayoral election in Lorch in 2007 and replaced Günter Retzmann from the SPD, who had been in office for 18 years and then lost. Even then, he had planned with three periods in the town hall, he explains - and will therefore run again on May 26th. Helbing is happy to highlight what has been achieved so far: The reduction in the city's debt level from 23 million euros to 6.4 million euros is right at the top.

The CDU candidate also cites lower prices for water and wastewater - which were the highest in Germany. The bottom line is that almost all points have been dealt with - with the exception of a senior facility and a medical care center (MVZ). “And I'm right in the middle of it.” As far as the house for the elderly that is to be built on the Lohwiese is concerned, the mayor presents freshly modified designs that come from the investor found in the Westerwald.

"There isn't a three-year-old who doesn't know who I am"

A MVZ to be founded would be another building block so that citizens can stay in the city even at an advanced age. Helbing obtained information in Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein and advocates a “medical cooperative with several partners”. The municipality should get involved, as well as the local pharmacy and the hospital in Rüdesheim. “Everyone involved is in good spirits.” The background is that the general practitioners in Lorch are all over 60 years old.

FORUM FOR CHOICE

On Tuesday, May 21st, at 7 p.m. in the Lorch community center, Kolpingstrasse 5, the editorial team is organizing a discussion forum with the three candidates for the mayoral election. Sascha Kircher and Thorsten Stötzer will moderate the evening, during which the citizens of Lorch can put the applicants to the test and ask questions about the topics relevant to them. Admission is from 6 p.m., entry to the event is free.

He wants to convince the residents of his program with a brochure, posters, small events and citizens' consultations. He is already present in the city: “In Lorch there is no three-year-old who doesn't know who I am.” From 1993 to 2007, he was always active in local politics as the first city councilor or city councilor. However, the 68-year-old was born in Thuringia. He came to the region via Essen and Northern Hesse and in 1987 bought a house in Lorch. The police and detective had his political home in the FWG for a long time, for which he already fought an - unsuccessful - mayoral election campaign in 1995. In 2010 he switched to the CDU. He appreciates the “network” that he now has. Funding pots are important because "we are not a commercial or industrial location". He is also pleased that ministers and their heads of department hold meetings in the Hilchenhaus, which was also renovated under his responsibility, as is today's community center. Private investors have also invested: this is what the Vincenzstift building, the hotel in the school building and the Rewe supermarket stand for. Although Helbing still wants to lead the city into debt-free status, further measures are emerging: “The train station is a big issue.” The city has acquired half a hectare of land to set up park-and-ride parking spaces and bicycle parking spaces. The old goods shed could be used for youth work in the future.

Helbing also has an eye on around 2.4 hectares of land in the Rhine facilities; they still belong to the country. Between the train station and the former sewage treatment plant, the area could be given a new look. The fixed point is the Federal Horticultural Show 2029, for which he wants to found an interest group. The growth in tourism is already a point on which the Christian Democrat is building.