Overview
- The city council approved the formal Abwahl motion with the two-thirds majority required to start a removal process, a vote that came Thursday evening.
- Rendel now has seven days to give written notice of resignation otherwise voters will decide his fate in a citizen referendum on 27 September and a successor election is planned for 25 October if he steps down.
- The dispute behind the move centers on a 2016 contract that led to roughly €2.1 million in commission payments to a municipal department head and the council’s demand to reclaim those sums despite legal doubts about the chance of success.
- Vote lines split along party and factional positions with WsR, CDU, the Greens and UMMA supporting the motion while the SPD opposed it; the debate included a denied allegation that Rendel pressured a young council member and public pleas from nearby mayors supporting him.
- The next steps to watch are any legal steps over the reclaimed payments, possible probes of advisers named in council motions, and short-term effects on municipal decision-making while the town prepares for the September referendum.