16 . 05 . 2019 , Berlin / Mitte : Stephan von Dassel ( Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) Bürgermeister des Berliner Stadtbezirkes Mitte ) auf dem Alexanderplatz . *** 16 05 2019 , Berlin Mitte Stephan von Dassel Bündnis 90 The Green Mayors of the Berlin City District Mitte on Alexanderplatz

The affair about the offer of a private payment to an applicant for a job at the district office puts Mitte’s district mayor Stephan von Dassel (Greens) in need of explanation.

The Tagesspiegel had reported that von Dassel had offered more than 16,000 from private funds to an unsuccessful applicant for the post of “Head of Control Service” so that he would drop a lawsuit against the district office. At the time, the position was given to a party confidant of von Dassel, but the member of the board of the district Greens was unable to take up this position because the unsuccessful competitor was suing.

Von Dassel has now admitted that he has checked whether the lawsuit can be averted by paying money through the district office so that his preferred candidate, who was previously a member of his campaign team, can take up the post. The district mayor called this a “mistake”.

However, von Dassel described the reporting of the Tagesspiegel on Twitter as “incorrect” because he himself had never offered the plaintiff any money. Both the claim and the amount of the sum came from the competitor.

However, both the plaintiff and the SMS available to the Tagesspiegel contradict this view. Von Dassel asks the plaintiff – after it was clear that payment via the district office is not possible – whether he is also ready for an agreement “between us as private individuals analogous to the framework conditions outlined”.

According to the plaintiff, there was no doubt that this amounted to an offer for the same amount of money. “During the phone call about an agreement with the district office, Mr. von Dassel knew that it was about paying three months’ salary according to A15,” he told the Tagesspiegel. “Only when this agreement was not possible did he offer me an SMS with him as a private person according to the framework conditions outlined above.”

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In an interview with the Tagesspiegel, von Dassel referred to gaps in memory. When asked what the general conditions would have meant otherwise, if not possible payments, he said: “I don’t remember exactly. Among other things, it was about ensuring that he would not be disadvantaged in future proceedings. From the plaintiff’s point of view, it was also about money, but as I said, the claim did not come from me.”

According to von Dassel, it was a spontaneous idea to make a personal agreement with the district office after payment failed. “I quickly realized that this wasn’t a good idea and that’s why I broke off contact. I can be accused of thinking in a direction that wasn’t correct. It was a mistake that I even came up with the idea of ​​wanting to solve it in this way.” As the Tagesspiegel learned, a conversation between von Dassel and the Greens district group is scheduled for Saturday.