Five candidates hoping to be mayor face questions from journalists

Some 80 members of the public gathered at the Burgbachsaal meeting hall in the city last week to hear the five candidates hoping to be mayor answer a wide variety of questions posed by Harry Ziegler, the editor of the Zuger Zeitung, and Andrea Muff, a journalist there.

As a warm-up question, Muff asked each one of them why they thought they were up to the job. The first to respond was Vroni Straub, of the CSP party, who is currently responsible for education in the city. She said she felt she was well prepared and would enjoy being mayoress, not least as she had strong nerves as a former midwife. As the current mayor himself had said only moments earlier, strong nerves were definitely what was needed in this job.

When André Wicki, the current head of planning and deputy mayor, replied, he said that the city had become part of him, and relished the challenge of guiding it through the change from an international village to an international city and reminded the audience of the experience he had had working for an international company.

Karl Kobelt of the SVP party said he would very much like to lead the core city council, after having been successful in running the city’s finances over the past six years, pointing out his clear style of leadership and open manner.

Urs Raschle of the CVP party, who is currently responsible for social affairs, the environment and public safety on the core city council, said his heart beat “white, blue and white” in reference to the colours of the cantonal coat-of-arms. While things were going quite swimmingly for the city, there were still aspects which needed attention and he was the one who could seek out solutions and implement them.

For his part, Rupan Sivaganesan, an SP councillor and member of the cantonal parliament, said that the retiring mayor, who is also of the SP party, had shown that a member of this party could take on responsibility, and added how he would push for solutions when it came to housing.

When it came to how they stood on growth, Straub said this was a matter of concern, not least with regard to where exactly the city could grow. She wanted to maintain the current clear demarcation of residential areas and proximity to areas of recreation.

“What I would like to see is more use of wood in the construction of buildings,” said Wicki, praising plans for its inclusion at the V-Zug site, and adding how he felt green space was important, too.

For Raschle, a former managing director of the Zug Tourist Board, one of his preoccupations would be how to deal with traffic flow and whether the city ought to be a car-free zone.

Karl Kobelt agreed that care needed to be taken with growth, even though it had brought great wealth, while Sivaganesan mentioned its disadvantages, such as the lack of affordable housing. Wicki felt housing cooperatives could play a greater role in this and mentioned his own involvement in this area. Not that the whole question-and-answer session was without more pointed comments. For example, when Sivaganesan said that if SVP politicians (in reference to Wicki) agreed with the Left’s point of view on housing, “then it was the proof of a victory for the Left”, to which Wicki retorted, “The difference is, while you talk about it, we get on and do it.”

“And what might be done with the city’s surplus?” asked Ziegler.
“Invest in the quality of the location,” suggested Kobalt, as he mentioned how CHF 140 million was destined for school buildings over the next few years. While Sivaganesan called for lower taxes, Kobelt politely reminded him, calling him by his first name, of the deficit of years gone by, and, had this not been put right, there would be no money to invest at all.

All were reminded of how current mayor Müller had ensured Zug had become known for embracing blockchain technology and bitcoin. While Raschle, Kobelt and Wicki all agreed this represented great opportunities, Straub said it was important to point out the difference between blockchain technology per se and crypto currencies, the latter being, she felt, a quick way of making money. Kobelt said he was not concerned with any potential damage to the canton’s reputation in this regard, with Raschle pointing out that “criminal behaviour did not orient itself towards technology” and mentioned the current pioneering project whereby motorists could pay for parking space via Twint on their smart phones, rather than use coins.

In an evening with so many questions and answers, what the journalist who wrote this article missed more than anything else was the interjection, “Sorry, I disagree with you there.”  

The photograph shows, from the left, Rupan Sivaganesan of the SP party, Vroni Straub (CSP), presenters Andrea Muff and Harry Ziegler of the Zuger Zeitung, Urs Raschle of the CVP party, Karl Kobelt (FDP) and André Wicki (SVP).