The City Council of Dresden is the elected representative body of the citizens of Dresden that administers the affairs of Dresden a self-governing city kreisfreie Stadt in the Free State of Saxony.
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The city council defines the basic principles of the municipality by decrees and statutes. The council gives orders to the burgomaster by voting for resolutions and thus has some executive power. It is elected by the citizenry for a legislature of five years by an election system of three votes per citizen. There an advisory councils for local affairs of senior citizens and immigrants. The ten Ortsamtsbereiche (districts) have an advisory council which has to be heard in district affairs. The Ortschaften (former boroughs) have even smaller councils, which can decide even more freely in local affairs.
The current city council of Dresden was elected in 2004 and has 70 seats.[1]
There is no persistent governing majority in the city council of Dresden.
The Supreme Burgomaster is directly elected by the citizens for a term of seven years. Executive functions are normally elected indirectly in Germany. However, the Supreme Burgomaster shares a lot of executive rights with the city council. Governing majorities can be in opposition to the Supreme Burgomaster. He is the head of the municipality, is responsible for the city's operative affairs, and is ceremonial representative of the city. The highest departments of the municipality are managed by seven burgomasters. The First Burgomaster (currently the burgomaster of culture) is also the deputy to the Supreme Burgomaster.[2]
The current holder of the office is Helma Orosz; she was elected in June 2008 and took office on 1 August 2008
The municipality is divided into seven departments and the Mayor's Office.[3]
The City of Dresden owns a lot of institutions and enterprises. Some of them are private companies (for example the Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe (transport authorities), the DREWAG (public services and energy supply), the Messe Dresden (fair ground) or the Zoo Dresden (which is a non-profit GmbH: a limited liability company).
Local affairs in Dresden often center around the urban development of the city. Architecture and design of public places is a specifically controversial subject. The reconstruction of completely destroyed buildings around the Frauenkirche at the Neumarkt square as well as the completely modern Wiener Platz square in front of the Hauptbahnhof train station have been criticized. The discussion of the Waldschlößchenbrücke, which is a planned bridge crossing the Elbe river, received international attention due to it crossing the Dresden Elbe Valley World Heritage Site. Opponents of the bridge are concerned that its construction would cause the loss of the status of a World Heritage site.[4]
The city held a public referendum on whether to build the bridge in 2005. However, at the time of the vote it was not yet known that construction of the bridge would jeopardize Dresden's World Heritage status. This has created further controversy over the bridge proposal, and over the validity of the referendum's results.
In 2006 Dresden sold its publicly subsidized housing organization, WOBA Dresden GmbH, to the US-based private investment company Fortress Investment Group. The city received 987.1 Million Euros and paid off its remaining loans, making it the first large city in Germany to become debt free. Opponents to the sale were concerned about Dresden's loss of control on the subsidized housing market, with that control going to an American private company. The long-term risks were a subject of discussion in national media as were the chances of such sales in other cities.[5]
The construction of a new soccer stadium has been in planning for several years but has not yet been realized. The earliest start date for upgrading the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion is in spring 2007.
Official documents and publications by the City Council of Dresden still use the histrionic coat of arms: Showing on a golden shield showing a black lion with and two black pales. The lion is looking has a red tongue.