Municipal elections

Running and standing in Lech am Arlberg

(Bild: Mathis Fotografie)

Four lists will be fighting for the votes of the people of Lech on Sunday. This could open up new opportunities for the municipality.

It's that time of year again: the municipal political course could be set anew in the posh ski resort of Lech am Arlberg. Strikingly different from a few years ago: This time, the election campaign took place without any dirt-bucket acrobatics. "Maybe we've learned from the past that you don't have to make the other person look bad, I think that's good," says Brigitte Finner, who is running again with her list "Zukunft wagen". The biggest issue according to Finner? "The finances, of course". She reminds us that the promised income from the newly built community center (GZ) should now come in. So far, not much has happened.

Finner is referring to the municipality's open wound, the controversial two-part community center, in which the retail and restaurant spaces have remained empty to date. The congress business is also not going as planned, resulting in various staff redundancies.

As a reminder: five years ago, the main political conflict still revolved around whether and how the new community center should be built. In the meantime, it has been built and now sits enthroned in the village center, as immovable as it is unmissable. Apart from this problem, Finner sees the challenge in adapting the village to social and climatic change.

Debts and parallel structures
Thomas Eggler from the "Our Village" list also sees major challenges that are not just coming to Lech, but have long been waiting for a solution. In particular, the 66 million euros in debt that will be accumulated by the end of 2024 can no longer be ignored. "Our only chance is to increase the number of overnight stays," explains the hotelier. He also calls for existing structures to be fully utilized instead of creating new ones. He is referring to the founding of Lechwelten Betriebs-GmbH, which is to take care of the operation of the event hall in the new community center. A task which, in Eggler's opinion, actually lies with Lech Zürs Tourismus GmbH. The parallel structure would only cause additional costs.

The current mayor Gerhard Lucian from "Liste Lech" takes a more relaxed view of the situation. As far as the retail space in the GZ is concerned, it was clear from the outset that "we don't want just any solution, but the best solution - it just takes time." Lucian argues that the establishment of a separate limited company for Lechwelten is due to the "professionalization of event management". Lucian wants to strengthen year-round tourism and Lech as a conference destination.

List swap
The "Zusammen uf Weg" list will no longer be running, as it has "successfully disbanded", as people say behind closed doors. The list has formed a quasi-coalition with Lucian's parliamentary group in recent years and had a majority in the municipal council. However, there is now a new player, the "Together for tomorrow" list, founded by Elias Beiser, who works as a banker. Despite repeated requests, Beiser was unfortunately unable to decide to explain his goals to the "Krone" before the election. According to the parliamentary group website, Beiser and his fellow campaigners want to work towards a liveable, sustainable and economically stable municipality. Beiser was previously a member of the "Liste Lech".

Incidentally, none of the lists are fielding a mayoral candidate, so the head of the municipality will only be elected in the municipal council.