Ottilie Scholz

Ottilie Scholz (2012) before the RuhrCongress

Ottilie Scholz (born August 26, 1948 in Recklinghausen ) is a German politician of the SPD . From October 13, 2004, she was Lord Mayor of Bochum for two electoral terms until October 21, 2015 .

Life

After graduating from high school in 1967, she studied sociology in conjunction with the minor subjects psychology and pedagogy at the University of Heidelberg with an MA ( Magister Artium ) at the economics and social science faculty. In 1975 she received her doctorate as Dr. phil. at the economics and social science faculty of Heidelberg University. Since August 1999, Ottilie Scholz was the head of finance and district in Bochum (before that she was first deputy in Castrop-Rauxel ) before she was elected mayor in the runoff election on October 10, 2004 as the successor to Ernst-Otto Stüber . She was re-elected to this office in August 2009. In January 2015 it was announced that she would not run again for the office of mayor. The SPD elected Thomas Eiskirch as a candidate for the OB election on September 13, 2015.

Cross-border leasing of the Bochum sewer network

Ottilie Scholz has come under fire for a cross-border leasing of the Bochum sewer network, which she concluded in 2003 as city treasurer. Critics accuse Ottilie Scholz of having inadmissibly disregarded a referendum directed against it by concluding the cross-border leasing contract, thereby making a huge loss for the Bochum taxpayer.

In July 2009, the public learned through an audit by the State Audit Office of North Rhine-Westphalia that after the expansion of the so-called western bypass in Bochum the city administration was missing documents justifying payment, although their retention period had not yet expired. The state audit office therefore demanded that the city of Bochum should repay state subsidies of around EUR 35,000,000.00 plus interest in the same amount likely to be paid to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Bochum CDU immediately demanded her resignation because, on the one hand, it had informed the city council that the test report was not yet in the town hall, although it had already been available three days, and on the other hand, it had concealed the process for a long time from the city council of Bochum.

Atrium talk affair

As part of a press conference on December 13, 2012 in Bochum town hall , Scholz announced that he would make some organizational changes in the sponsorship of the municipal subsidiary Stadtwerke Bochum regarding the Atrium Talk affair . She acts as the chairwoman of the supervisory board of the municipal utilities. Aspects such as the inadequate elaboration of written agreements with the criticized media advisor Sascha Hellen were highlighted . She also announced that she would no longer be available as patron for the Hellen project "Challenge Future".

In February 2013, Sparkasse Bochum , where Scholz is chairman of the board of directors, and Hellen jointly announced that they would terminate the existing sponsorship contract. In the course of the legal proceedings before the Bochum regional court on February 14, 2014, no agreement was reached between Hellen and Stadtwerke Bochum. The core of the discourse was the contractual situation for a concert planned for 2010 by Paul McCartney at the RuhrCongress Bochum . Hellen had received advances of 113,000 euros for this concert and not paid it back. According to Hellen, he had flown to London and given some of the money in an envelope in cash to a Paul McCartney liaison. The whereabouts of the money could not be clarified. Hellen attributed the failure of the concert to the negative press reports about the Stadtwerke affair in 2012.

Deutsche Annington Real Estate and Foundation

Ottilie Scholz is a board member of the Deutsche Annington Foundation, an organization of the Deutsche Annington Immobilien Group , which in turn is a subsidiary of the London-based private equity company Terra Firma Capital Partners . The real estate company Annington, which has come under considerable criticism for its grasshopper methods using foundation funds, has a 14.15% stake in Bochum-based VBW Bauen und Wohnen GmbH, whose supervisory board chairman of Stadtwerke Bochum's managing director Bernd Wilmert (SPD) is.

Cancellation of the Loveparade 2009

For security reasons, she canceled the Love Parade through Bochum in 2009 . This has been heavily criticized. In view of the accident at the Love Parade 2010 , this criticism was put into perspective.

Offices

Member of the Board of Directors of the Savings Banks Association Westphalia-Lippe
Chairwoman of the supervisory board of Stadtwerke Bochum
Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Sparkasse Bochum
Chairwoman of the supervisory board of Gelsenwasser AG
Member of the Presidium and Main Committee of the German Association of Cities
Member of the board of the NRW City Council
Board member of the Deutsche Annington Foundation
Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Situation Art Foundation
Chair of the Presidium of the German Red Cross District Association Bochum.