Colmar-Berg council is seeking a new alderman after Daniel Dallo announced in December that he intended to resign. He repeated that intention in the February municipal newsletter. However, no successor has yet been identified, and efforts by the press to obtain further information from local politicians have so far proved unsuccessful.
Mayor Mandy Arendt responded to RTL’s requests for an interview by redirecting reporters to another press outlet. “I have no news on the subject,” she wrote. “Everything is printed in the TB [Tageblatt], I’ll get back to you when there is an update.”
Daniel Dallo responded in a similar vein, writing: “Send me an email, if there is an opportunity then I will get back to you. I hoped to do a digital detox. Thanks for the understanding.”
Through other media outlets and people who have responded, RTL has established that Dallo initially resigned due to personal reasons, citing the difficulty of balancing his council responsibilities with his work and private life. In December, however, he indicated to the Tageblatt newpaper that there were other reasons behind his stepping down, but did not elaborate further.
In the search for a replacement, Patrick Berens’ name came up as he received the most votes in the 2023 local elections, although at the time Arendt had more councillors on her side and thus was elected mayor. Berens was offered a role on the council at the time, which he declined, and Dallo and Jacqueline Majeres joined the council as fifth and seventh on the voting list.
After Dallo’s resignation, Berens was initially ready to replace him, joining alderman meetings for around a month. But on 11 February he had a meeting with the mayor in which she explained her expectations of an alderman and how the council worked, which seemed to have changed Berens’ mind. Allegedly this is because the pensioner would rather enjoy his time instead of assuming official duties, according to Arendt’s discussions with the Luxemburger Wort and the Tageblatt newspapers. In both papers, Berens confirmed the mayor’s “official version”, but hinted that there was more to it, as was the case with Dallo.
RTL has reached out to Berens for comment but received no response.
The Colmar-Berg council will meet again on 11 March, hoping to have found a successor for Dallo by that point, even if the candidate is only a transitional replacement. To date, however, no one has indicated interest in the role.
