Eswe Verkehr announced a phase of relaxation on Wednesday.

What was meant, however, was not the muddled situation after the critical escalation of the allegations against the municipal transport company, but the return to the regular timetable.

After most drivers reported back to work, there will be no more pandemic-related restrictions on the 43 bus routes from Monday.

However, Monday should be a fateful day for Eswe Managing Director Jörg Gerhard.

Then the Eswe supervisory board, chaired by Andreas Kowol (The Greens), head of the transport department, meets and discusses Gerhard's dismissal.

Oliver Bock

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Rheingau-Taunus district and for Wiesbaden.

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For legal reasons, the magistrate had not given a clear recommendation to the supervisory board of the municipal company.

But from the magistrate's point of view, "after hearing Mr. Gerhard, the supervisory board must decide on his dismissal".

According to information from the FAZ, Gerhard was given the opportunity until Friday to present his point of view.

After the magistrate formulated his "shock at Eswe's internal structures" and recognized "serious breaches of duty", the decision against Gerhard should be foreseeable.

Gerhard left a request from the FAZ for a statement unanswered.

allegation of wrongful salary classification

The company's twelve-member Supervisory Board has equal representation.

In addition to the city councilors Marc Dahlen (CDU), Alexander Winkelmann (FDP), Lukas Haker (Die Linke), Silas Gottwald (SPD) and Martin Kraft (Die Grünen), six representatives of the almost 1200 Eswe employees sit on the supervisory board.

Particularly piquant: With works council member Thomas Baldering and the works council chairman Wolfgang Klumb, there are two members of the supervisory board whose names appear as unlawful beneficiaries in the report of the law firm Dierlamm.

In essence, it is about the allegation that these two exempted members of the works council and also the representative for the severely disabled were unlawfully assigned to high salary brackets by the management.

It is legally undisputed that exempted works council members should not fear any career disadvantages because they cannot move up the corporate hierarchy.

According to the report, however, they applied for management positions, which they then did not take up as works council members, but nevertheless reached the appropriate salary level.

In summary, this results in a salary development that, according to the report, is not legally comprehensible.

In addition, the works council members received legal advice with regard to their salary classification.

Most of the five-digit costs incurred to achieve her personal salary and career aspirations were borne by Eswe.

The management had not let themselves be dissuaded from the higher rankings even by warnings and reservations from a lawyer.

ESWE already severely affected by the pandemic

According to reports, Kowol is now examining whether the two works council members are allowed to attend and vote at the supervisory board meeting.

However, what is prevented in political bodies by paragraph 25 of the Municipal Code does not apply to supervisory boards: that a member participates in an advisory or decisive role in a matter, even though there is a conflict of interests.

The uncovering of obviously scandalous grievances hits Eswe Verkehr in a difficult phase.

In the pandemic, passenger numbers plummeted from 61 million to 40 million in 2020.

After the end of the Citybahn, the pressure to modernize the bus system is growing.

In addition, the annual deficit, which was 41 million euros in 2020, is expected to reach 75 million euros this year and even 85 million euros in 2023.

The town hall fraction Freie Wahler/Pro Auto sees in Gerhard a pawn sacrifice of the head of the traffic department.

For years, Eswe Verkehr has had scandals, inconsistencies and mismanagement.

The supervisory board is jointly responsible for this.

Kowol must be replaced as chairman of the supervisory board.

Gerhard's dismissal was a "superficial maneuver to distract from one's own failures".

A "realignment without legacy issues" is necessary in order to advance projects such as the expansion of the Ländchesbahn.

The town hall faction BLW/ULW/BIG calls for the resignation of the head of the transport department, Kowol.

He should have "pulled the ripcord earlier".

The available reports exceeded the worst fears.