In order not to create a vacuum in the first place, the Darmstadt Greens – to be more precise: initially only the party executive – very quickly agreed on who should apply to succeed Jochen Partsch for the office of mayor.

If the general meeting convened for Tuesday follows the proposal, the then 53-year-old Michael Kolmer wants to face the vote of the citizens on March 19th.

The Darmstadt-born boy, who has been in charge of climate protection, planning, mobility, green spaces and the environment for almost a year, was considered a potential candidate for the Greens from the start.

The fact that he should and can actually compete is not least due to the fact that her head of department and mayor Barbara Akdeniz is said to have voluntarily renounced

The content

Markus Schug

Correspondent Rhein-Main-Süd.

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On the other hand, Kolmer, who was born in 1970, seems very keen to continue the work begun by the Greens in the coalition and the mayor, who is now retiring from office for personal reasons, to which he has also contributed in recent years as head of the Office for Economics and Urban Development has already contributed a lot.

"Partsch and I are different personalities," says the long-time administrative employee.

In terms of content, however, they are close, for example when it comes to ecological change, social policy, questions of mobility and future urban development.

In his opinion, the question of whether the cosmopolitan city of science should grow or shrink from now on does not arise.

Because there are always dynamic processes that you have to be prepared for.

Hildegard Förster-Heldmann and Andreas Ewald spoke of a “clever and conscientious politician who has many years of experience in leadership and administrative issues” when presenting the candidate, who was unanimously supported by the party executive.

The Greens regretted, but also respected, the previous mayor's decision not to be available again for this task after two terms in office.

Kolmer, who is married and has two children, spoke at the presentation of having been socialized in the "Krone";

and to have lived at many different addresses in Darmstadt.

The fact that he now lives in the neighboring municipality of Mühltal, about 300 meters beyond the city limits, is certainly not a disadvantage.

He enjoys seeing the city forest almost every day.