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| Front cover of this week's Winterthurer Zeitung |
The headline story of the
Winterthurer Zeitung this week features Michael Künzle, current president of
Winterthur, and Yvonne Beutler who is hoping to take his place in the elections
to be held on 15th April (Sunday!) I guess it is a battle between
the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, also known as the Swiss Socialist
Party, (Yvonne) and the more traditional Christian Democratic People's Party of
Switzerland (Michael)
Under the promising headline ‘Collegiality
gives way to rivalry’ I thought the ‘interviews’ fairly staid and one-dimensional.
I would have liked to see more interesting questions such as What do you think
Winterthur will look like in 20 years time? and What do you think of Universal
Basic Income? How do you think we can combat the increased automation of people’s
jobs? Etc, etc…
I mean, this is a big job
right? Winterthur is a fantastic, cultural city, full of incredible,
enthusiastic people. It should be at the forefront of culture and progress in
the most dynamic way. The only revealing answer on these lines was following
the one statement put by the newspaper reporter as: I want to be President of the City because I can bring Winterthur more
than my opponent. Here are the replies:
Michael Künzle: I have proven
in recent years that I am committed to our city. Our city is doing well. The
track record, which I have achieved together with the city council, can be
seen. We stabilized the finances, increased the number of employees, renewed
the cultural mission statement and subsidy agreements, took decisive steps in
the urban museum concept, introduced integrated location marketing, concluded a
development agreement with SBB, prevented the school of engineering from
leaving the company, and the Frauenfeld crisis AG mastered, the police building
brought by the referendum and so on. In the future, we will continue to need stable
finances, more jobs, a mixed population, a diverse culture and sports
facilities. The goal is a modern, innovative, self-confident city with a high
quality of life.
Yvonne Beutler: Winterthur
has the choice between two "models" of a city council: a conservative
city father and a modern city president, who sees the focus not only in
representation, but also in leadership. Together with the city council, I would
like to actively shape the development of our city as a team, give it more
momentum and give it a fresh face inside and out. Thanks to my previous work as
a justice of the peace, I have great experience in developing sustainable
solutions for the most diverse people in crisis situations. After 20 years of
politics, I know our city thoroughly and I am well connected. I approach openly
people and companies, I am resilient and humorous and ready to make unpleasant
decisions. My excellent election result also speaks for my performance.
Micheal sites one of his
achievements as taking decisive steps in the ‘urban museum concept’ Now I’m not
sure exactly what this has achieved, other than perhaps saving money. All I can
see is one website where the Kunstmuseum, Oskar Reinhart Museum and Villa Flora
have been lumped together and the three museums are now referred together as
the Kunst Museum Winterthur. As opposed to one of the museums which was already
called the Kunstmuseum Winterthur and is now just called ‘Beim Stadthaus?’ The
problem they have is that all over the internet, the Kunstmuseum Winterthur
just means the one, more contemporary museum, not all three. All very
confusing.
Anyway, Micheal’s goal is ‘a
modern, innovative, self-confident city with a high quality of life’ which is
just what Winterthur is and why I love it so much. But right now it needs
momentum, as Yvonne says. I like her focus on the words ‘shaping the
development of the city’ and ‘momentum’ because for me that is just what Winterthur
needs – a modern, forward looking approach and a healthy dose of momentum. I
think we’re ready for a change. I’m with Yvonne J
For information, politics in
Switzerland works on proportional representation and a ‘magic formula’ How good
is that? It means the four main parties are dealt with equally and fairly. So the
composition of the Federal Council looks like this:
- Free Democratic Party
(FDPP/PLR/PLD): two seats
- Social Democratic Party
(SPS/PSS): two seats
- Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC/PPS):
two seats
- Christian Democratic People's
Party (CVP/PDC/PPD/PCD): one seat
Neat huh? We sure could do
with a magic formula in the UK…
I've found out there is a little cinema, the Kiwi Loge, in Oberer Graben that shows English movies - the more unusual ones you won't very often find being shown. I'm absolutely made up. I used to run a film club in England and knew there would be something similar hiding in Winterthur somewhere - and now I've found it!
Winterthur
looks set to finally get its own Globus store. Did you know that the group is
owned by Switzerland's largest retailer, Migros? And of course, their former
mascot, Globi, probably the most well-known character in the whole of
Switzerland.
I am amazed at how long the popularity of this little star, whose
first appearance was in 1932, has lasted. Globi
is a blue parrot with a yellow beak who wears a black beret and a pair of red
and black chequered trousers. 
An exciting new Wild auf Wald exhibition has opened at Naturmuseum Winterthur (ground floor of the Kunstmuseum) As part of the exhibition, which is all about life in the forest, there will be various events taking place as well as guided tours, including wildlife safari Aktion Squirrel on Sunday(15th April) between 2pm and 4 pm. Just go along to the Naturmuseum for 2pm.