There are still people who see through Peter Feldmann (SPD).

They are members of the CDU or the FDP and have been accompanying the Lord Mayor of Frankfurt for years.

The days after his tenth anniversary in office would be exciting, they said weeks ago.

Until then he will want to hold on, for financial reasons.

His pension should improve significantly after his tenth year of service, although the amount of this premium is not easy to calculate.

This is how it happened: After the service anniversary, the Frankfurters only had to wait a few days before the announcement of the withdrawal came.

Feldmann wouldn't be Feldmann if he hadn't had a sly surprise in store.

He's not leaving right away.

He announces his retirement for the end of January next year.

In many respects, therefore, the right step is taken far too late.

In addition to the assumption that Feldmann wants to decide for himself when he leaves, the name and tenure of Frankfurt's mayor Walter Kolb should play a role here.

Just under two months until Feldmann has overtaken the term of office of Frankfurt's longest-serving SPD mayor.

Feldmann said that this was important to him long before his misconduct came to a head.

What hubris of him who supposedly had socially disadvantaged people in mind.

Because the time of his announced farewell is now partly determined by vanity and financial motives.

Despite everything, Feldmann will only manage to overtake Kolb in questions of tenure, who rendered outstanding services in rebuilding the city from the ruins of the Second World War and who undoubtedly would have had more years of service if he had not died in office .

Everything seems peculiar

What remains are the subjunctive: Feldmann would have shown greatness if he had resigned at the latest immediately after the indictment had been admitted for accepting an advantage by the regional court.

The accusation: Feldmann's wife, as the head of a day-care center for workers' welfare, received a salary that was higher than the collective agreement without any objective reason.

Feldmann could have averted damage to his party, he could have used the stage of the city council for a speech in which he could have shown that he understood what was at stake.

That has not become an imperative for him.

So now a written declaration in which there is no question of insight and in which he tries to exploit the latest procedural tricks, of which it must be clarified what is actually going on.

There is no right of application for the mayor in the Municipal Code,

Everything about this retreat of a mayor looking to make history while sifting through court papers in a criminal case seems odd: Here goes someone who didn't shy away from any trick but ended up tricking himself - and his image in the public eye in the agony of his tenure.

It was never about prejudice.

Anyone who raises this accusation has not understood what it means to represent a city like Frankfurt as mayor.

It is unimaginable to do this as a defendant in a criminal trial, even if one were to be acquitted.

The office entails that you have to assume a responsibility that goes beyond the demands of the average citizen.

But Feldmann sees himself as exactly that: as an average citizen and representative of the same, with a chain of office, but nonetheless.

He does not make any higher demands on himself, but he has failed at his low ones.

Opportunity for the Greens

After all, if everything turns out as Feldmann says in the statement, the city will save itself an expensive and emotionally tedious vote-out procedure that could have failed.

Now the parties can think carefully about who they want to send in the race for the election of the next mayor.

This will be exciting with a view to the state elections, which are due a few months later, in autumn 2023.

No one wants to start this election campaign with a defeat in the much-noticed Frankfurt.

The Greens have special opportunities in the city.

You can make a statement and give tailwind to Tarek Al-Wazir, your top candidate for the state elections.

Are they running a prominent state or federal candidate?

Either way, all parties have the obligation to present the Frankfurters with a candidate who will restore dignity to the office.