The construction councilor of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Florian Schmidt, has had to face violent criticism for alleged file manipulation since the weekend. This is not new for the controversial Greens politician. He has been polarizing since taking office in 2016. Schmidt exercised the district’s right of first refusal for rental houses as early and intensely as hardly anyone else.
Since then, many have regarded him as a city activist in the guise of a politician. But for some time now his office has also been criticized – even in his own party. It is considered to be shirtless, confrontational. The impending insolvency of “Die eG”, which ultimately takes over the apartment buildings and pays the purchase price, he has accepted, is criticized. The city council is also accused of sluggishly fulfilling reporting requirements and hardly communicating. An extract from the Schmidt file:
Since 2017: holding up the opposition
The opposition in the district has been aware that Schmidt does not like to inspect files since 2017. A list drawn up by the FDP group at the district assembly (BVV) shows that Schmidt and his administration hardly inspect files without waiting for months and repeated reminders grant. An example: The FDP representatives wait for months to inspect the files of a pre-purchase from Eisenbahnstraße. During the inspection it was noticed that – as in the current case (see box) – parts were missing. Schmidt later wanted to deliver something missing, but that never happened despite demand.
September 2018: criticism of architects
Schmidt’s communication with Twitter has already caused some trouble. At that time, the city council tweeted: “Incidentally, I remember which architects work for speculative owners.” The Bund Deutscher Architekten criticized that it expressed a general suspicion. Schmidt defended his statement. Critics saw a violation of the moderation requirement of officials.
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March 2019: Unsuccessful arbitration for the timber market project
The “timber market” is celebrated worldwide as a showcase project for alternative urban planning, but Schmidt didn’t want it. After disputes with the makers, the city council refused to communicate. An attempt to arbitrate failed. The green ex-Justice Senator Wolfgang Wieland was used as a mediator: he described the atmosphere as poisoned and Schmidt as “the only green I win”.
May 2019: reprimand for Schmidt
The members of the Left, SPD, CDU and FDP complained to Schmidt in early summer 2019. He had overruled a BVV decision on Bergmannstrasse – and had not ended a test phase. The Greens stood by him.
August 2019: dispute over renovation of Karstadt
The Signa group wants the Karstadt building on Hermannplatz remodel in the style of the 1920s. Schmidt soon stopped talking to the investor, according to the company, conversation inquiries remained unanswered. It was only after the intervention of the Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) that Schmidt moved to resume the talks. His criticism: the building was “not authentic”.
September 2019: threat against Tagesspiegel journalists
Twitter again: There the city council of building spread the demand to “kick out” a named editor of the Tagesspiegel. After fierce criticism, he withdrew the “controversial retweet”. Everything is just a misunderstanding.
January 2020: conflict of interest with an investor
The rescue of the cooperative “These eG”, which is also the issue in the current case, succeeded with the millions of an investor who wants to build in Kreuzberg. Schmidt had previously expressly praised this and its high-rise project. When asked about a conflict of interest, he said, “I don’t believe in jangling between politics and investors.”
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