Ingrid Kornberger/APA/dpa
Day of open accounts: Mayor Elke Kahr (left) and City Councilor Robert Krotzer on Thursday in Graz
Graz. In Austria, the communist mayor of Graz, Elke Kahr, and party colleagues have again donated a large part of their salary to the needy. A total of around 291,000 euros flowed to the poor this year from her, two city councilors and a member of the state parliament of the KPÖ, Kahr announced on the “Day of Open Accounts” on Thursday in Graz. The money helped 2,226 people or families in Styria. The support was used, among other things, for food vouchers, funeral and legal costs and to prevent evictions.
For 25 years, the KPÖ mandate holders have kept 2,000 to 2,300 euros net of their monthly salary, the rest goes to the needy. In the case of the mayor, this is now almost 6,000 euros per month, for the city councilors over 4,000 euros. Kahr has been the mayor of Austria’s second largest city since November 2021. The closeness to the citizens of the KPÖ Styria, which should also be exemplified by numerous consultation hours, is considered one of the reasons for its electoral success. According to the KPÖ, Kahr alone has donated more than one million euros since 2005, when she became a member of the city government. (dpa/jW)