I Sit in the Committee. I Am Not Allowed to Vote There.

  • I sit in the committee. I am not allowed to vote there. Drawing of a round meeting table with chairs and microphones.
  • Before the members of the city council assembly vote, they often discuss in a small group. This group is called a committee.
  • What is a committee? A small group of members of the city council assembly. It prepares decisions. The vote then usually takes place in the city council assembly.
  • The 4 committees: Finance, Economy, Sport, Culture and Volunteering. Social Affairs, Generations, Integration and Education. Environment, Energy and Transport. Urban Development, Planning and Construction.
  • Who sits there? Members of the city council assembly from the parliamentary groups. In the social committee, for example, 11. Only they vote.
  • And me? I am not a member of the city council assembly. I am on the Magistrat. I listen. The mayor and the First City Councillor answer questions. I do not have a vote.
  • You may watch. Committee meetings are usually public. Dates and agenda: council information system on rodgau.de.
  • In short: The committee discusses. The city council assembly decides. The Magistrat puts it into effect.
  • Which committee would you like to visit one day? Write it in the comments. And share the post with your neighbours.
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When Rodgau decides something, many people think of the city council assembly (Stadtverordnetenversammlung): the large hall, all parliamentary groups, the vote. But many topics first go through a smaller group. This group is called a committee (Ausschuss). I attend the meetings, but I do not vote. Here I explain why.

What is a committee?

A committee is a small group of members of the city council assembly (Stadtverordnete). It prepares the decisions of the city council assembly. This is what the Hessian Municipal Code says (§ 62 para. 1 HGO).

In the committee there is time for details: questions to the administration, changes to a proposal, a recommendation. After that, the city council assembly usually votes. But the city council assembly can also give a committee the final decision on specific topics. It can take back this transfer at any time.

The committees report to the city council assembly about their work. Every town in Hesse must have a finance committee.

The 4 committees in Rodgau

In the electoral term since 2026, Rodgau has 4 committees:

  • Finance, Economy, Sport, Culture and Volunteering. Here the topics are, for example, the budget or the purchase of a command vehicle for the volunteer fire brigade (meeting on 1 September 2026).
  • Social Affairs, Generations, Integration and Education. In the first meeting on 6 May 2026, the agenda included, for example, a new daycare centre at the Gartenstadtschule in Nieder-Roden and the 2026 budget.
  • Environment, Energy and Transport.
  • Urban Development, Planning and Construction. Here the members discuss, for example, development plans.

Who sits there?

The members are members of the city council assembly from the parliamentary groups. The social committee, for example, has 11 members with a vote. The committees elect their chairpersons themselves.

There are also participants without a vote. The chairperson of the city council assembly may attend all committees in an advisory role. A parliamentary group without a seat on a committee may send one person in an advisory role. And a committee may invite experts and representatives of groups that a decision affects in particular (§ 62 para. 4 and 6 HGO).

And me?

I am not a member of the city council assembly. I am a volunteer city councillor (Stadtrat) and thus a member of the executive board (Magistrat). How this office works, I explain in the article Volunteer City Councillor.

In the committee I listen. The mayor and the First City Councillor answer questions to the Magistrat. I have no vote in the committee. Only the members of the committee may vote.

You may watch

Committee meetings are usually public. For specific items, the public can be excluded. That is why some meetings are called “public/non-public meeting”.

You can find dates and agendas in the council information system (Ratsinformationssystem) on rodgau.de. The proposals are there too. So you can read in advance what the committee will discuss.

In short

  • The committee discusses.
  • The city council assembly decides.
  • The Magistrat puts it into effect.

Your question

Which committee would you like to visit one day? Write it in the comments under the Instagram post.

Sources