Julie Cazier: New district mayor for a green city center!

Julie Cazier: New district mayor for a green city center!

In Cologne there is a breath of fresh air in the city center district council. On Tuesday, Julie Cazier was elected as the new district mayor, receiving 14 of 19 votes. There were four votes against and one abstention. The election marks a significant step in the district's political landscape after Andreas Hupke, who led the district council for over two decades, no longer stood for election. Cazier is now taking on responsibility with the clear goal of sustainably improving life in the city center. As ksta.de reports, she wants to carry out her new office with “courage, determination, empathy and attitude”.

She is supported by her deputies Alicem Polat from the SPD and Hajra Munir-Khawaja. Both received the same number of votes as the new district mayor. Cazier brings with her in-depth experience from her time as leader of the Green Group and as deputy district mayor, which will certainly help her address the challenges of the city center. Reinhold Goss, who was elected chairman of the district council in September, has positioned his Green parliamentary group well. If we take a look at the September elections, we can see that the Greens remained strong at 33.12 percent, even if the result shows a decrease compared to the 2020 local elections. The Green Group now has seven members, up from the previous membership of eight. In comparison, the Left received 15.37 percent and now has three district representatives.

A new era for the candidate

Julie Cazier, born in France in 1971 and raised in West Berlin, has lived in Cologne's Südstadt since 1998. With her German-French diploma in political and social sciences, she has specialized in the topic of sustainable urban development. Their commitment covers important points such as the transport transition, the greening of public spaces and the creation of liveable areas in the city. The Green Group has emphasized that the focus of its work in the upcoming term will be on sustainable urban development, climate protection and social cohesion.

Former bicycle mayor Reinhold Goss, who now acts as parliamentary group leader, and his deputy colleague Karin Roggenbrodt reiterated the importance of dialogue and moderation between residents and businesses. Tim Cremer pointed out the challenges that the city center has to overcome and underlined the need to resolve existing conflicts in a constructive way.

A new wind in the district council

An important point in the new composition of the district council is that the CDU and the SPD remain stable with three seats each without having to accept major losses. For the first time, Volte and AfD were each able to contribute one seat to the district council, while the FDP is also represented in the new constellation. Voters have sent a clear message and confirmed the Greens as the strongest faction in the city center and Deutz, putting additional pressure on the new leadership to bring about positive change.

So it's now time for Julie Cazier to tackle things and meet the demands of her new role. Cologne residents can look forward to seeing how the city center develops under their leadership and in which areas the first successes are becoming visible. One thing is certain: the new challenges require innovative solutions.