Alexander Straßmeir (58) changes the presidential job Photo: Ufuk Ucta
From Hildburg Bruns
The capital is in the middle of an emergency: there are far too few places for more and more asylum seekers. The responsible state office (LAF) with its 600 employees hits the departure of their experienced boss Alexander Straßmeir (58) in this crisis.
“There is no right time to leave the State Office for Refugee Affairs,” said the President to the BZ
Straßmeir, formerly a CDU city councilor in Wilmersdorf, was in office for more than four years. Always opening up new quarters for asylum seekers and caring for war refugees from Ukraine – a backbreaking job under great political scrutiny by all parties from left to right.
But Straßmeir does not have to change his title and salary (B 4, i.e. around 8900 euros gross/month): he is now to become President of the State Office for Health and Social Affairs (Lageso).
After the chaos caused by the wave of Syrian refugees, the office no longer has anything to do with the registration and accommodation of new arrivals. The agency, with around 1,000 employees, works on a wide spectrum: from matters relating to the severely disabled to home supervision and animal experiments to bathing water quality.
The arrival center for asylum seekers is in Reinickendorf – Ukrainians, on the other hand, are registered in Tegel
Photo: Ralf Gunther
The Lageso chief position has only been filled provisionally for the past two years – there have been several unsuccessful job advertisements.
The President’s job requires cooperation with four Senate administrations – currently he only has to do with the left-wing Social Senate. Straßmeir is to take over the new position from December.