Citizens’ decision on Häckel: Sylt mayor voted out early
Years of budget misery, a lack of communication, a lack of trust: the residents of the Sylt community have now voted to vote out Mayor Nikolas Häckel.
Häckel has been mayor of the municipality of Sylt since 2015, and in 2021 he was confirmed by the citizens for another six-year term.
Source: dpa
The mayor of Sylt, Nikolas Häckel (independent), has been voted out. On Sunday, 4,342 citizens of the municipality of Sylt, with its towns Westerland, Tinnum, Rantum, Archsum, Keitum, Morsum and Munkmarsch, voted in favor of being voted out. 860 voted against. Nikolas Häckel told the German Press Agency:
I’m relaxed: If I had actually won today – against all the people who were against me here – it wouldn’t have been fun.
Nikolas Häckel, Mayor of Sylt
He came to the town hall in person that evening with a red fabric rose in the buttonhole of his dark blue corduroy suit. The deselection didn’t surprise him; he was prepared for it.
On July 18th, local politicians decided with 26 yes votes and 4 no votes to initiate a recall procedure against Sylt’s full-time mayor Häckel – and that he would not be allowed to continue in office until this vote. At least 20 percent of all eligible voters had to vote for deselection, which corresponded to 2,487 votes.
Why was the mayor of Sylt criticized?
The politicians accuse him, among other things, of years of budget misery, a lack of communication, a lack of trust and inadequacies in his administrative work.
The popular tourist islands of Sylt and Amrum find themselves on the brink of tourist collapse. More and more people are coming to stay. That’s why new holiday and second homes should now be prevented by building bans.01.04.2023 | 4:27 minHäckel is currently represented by his deputy, Carsten Kerkamm (CDU). He has been on sick leave since February. As early as the summer of 2023, he was unable to carry out his official duties for several weeks. The 50-year-old native of Sylt has been running the administration on the North Sea island since 2015 and, after surviving burnout, wanted to return to the executive chair in the town hall in Westerland.
New elections on Sylt in 2025
If the municipal voting committee determines the result at its meeting – probably on October 2nd – then Häckel will be put into temporary retirement.
According to municipal regulations, the election of a new mayor must take place no later than six months after the vote result, said Hans-Martin Slopianka, spokesman for the North Frisia district. Such a new election would be realistic in the first quarter of 2025.
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Source: ZDF
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Source: dpa