"A lot of dishes broken" Municipal council cuts off vice president - over well dispute
The vice-municipal president is removed from her position, the municipal clerk is reported to the police, and everyone is annoyed to the max: a public fountain in a Thurgau municipality causes a heated dispute.
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- A dispute escalates in Bettwiesen TG because a public fountain is located on private property.
- The landowners want the well to be moved, but the municipality rejects this on cost grounds.
- Now the deputy mayor is getting rid of her position because the municipal council lacks trust: the councillor is a co-owner of the fountain property.
"I was simply shocked," says Franziska Pustiasi. The municipal councillor from Bettwiesen in the canton of Thurgau has been relieved of her role as deputy mayor from April 1. This was decided by the municipal council in Pustiasi's absence. The reason: a dispute over a public fountain in the community of 1329 people, which escalated unpleasantly. The "Tagblatt" had previously reported on this.
In a statement, the municipal council accuses Pustiasi of a "conflict of roles" and an associated "loss of trust on the part of the other municipal councillors". Pustiasi finds the accusations incomprehensible: "They wanted me to agree to a decision in order to save face. As a municipal councillor and vice president, I have done nothing wrong. Why do I have to save face?" she is quoted as saying in the Tagblatt.
Well dispute escalates
The dispute was triggered by a public fountain located on a private company property. Franziska Pustiasi is co-owner of the company, but the Vice-President had withdrawn as a municipal councillor from legal transactions relating to the fountain issue.
In 2022, the landowners applied to have the fountain moved as it severely restricted the entrance and exit. The costs were to be borne by the municipality. It examined the proposal, "but decided against it due to the very high costs", according to the statement.
The landowners then declared to the municipality that the fountain was their property according to the "principle of accession" and would be removed within three days. In order to protect the fountain and in particular the fountain figures from 1949, the municipality then placed it under super-provisional protection.
A discussion then took place between the municipal council and the property owners in December 2024. Pustiasi also took part as co-owner of the company. No agreement was reached, but following the discussion, the municipal council decided to remove Pustiasi from her position as vice president.
Charges against the municipal clerk
It is not only this decision, against which Pustiasi has lodged an appeal, that has caused tempers to flare. In response to the company owner's comment that key points were missing from the minutes, the municipal clerk accused him of having recorded the meeting. The company owner disagrees and has filed a complaint against the municipal clerk for defamation and libel.
The Bettwiesen municipal council regrets that "unfortunately a lot of dishes were broken" during the dispute. It is still interested in an amicable settlement. It hopes to "restore the lost trust" and asks "all parties involved to take a step towards each other."
