The first hour of council meetings is generally reserved for questions from residents. Question time is also explicitly open to children and young people.
Any resident can ask the Lord Mayor, a member of the Council or a parliamentary group a question on a specific topic. However, the questions must relate to the area of responsibility of the City of Aachen and must not be judgmental or evaluative. The questions should also be brief and allow for short answers. As the time for Question Time is limited per meeting of the Aachen City Council, please check whether your request would be better dealt with in one of the other participation formats.
How does it work?
If residents ask the question in person at the meeting, it will be answered orally immediately. If a direct oral answer is not possible, it will always be provided in writing.
Anyone who cannot or does not wish to ask a question in person at the meeting can submit it in writing to the Lord Mayor no later than 14 calendar days before Question Time. However, questions submitted in writing will only be answered verbally at the Council meeting if the person asking the question is present.
Residents' question time lasts up to 60 minutes. Questions that cannot be answered for time or other reasons will be answered in writing or at the following council meeting with the agreement of the questioner.
Do you have a question that only concerns one of the city districts? Residents' question times are also held at meetings of the district councils.
Further details on residents' question times are set out in Section 11 of the Rules of Procedure for the Council and the district councils of the City of Aachen and the Council committees.
Addressing the members of the city council and district councils
In addition to the option described above, you can of course also simply contact the council members or the district representatives themselves. You can find contact persons and contact details in the council information system.