Bern cycling campaign sees grant accidentally slashed after officials mess up vote
The Local - [email protected]
Published: 17 Nov, 2017 CET.
Updated: Fri 17 Nov 2017 10:18 CET
Most Bern city councillors were in favour of a new campaign to encourage people in the Swiss capital to get on their bikes, however on Thursday they accidentally voted to slash the campaign’s grant by more than half after some councillors pressed the wrong button during the electronic vote.
According to news agency ATS a majority of the council wanted to give the campaign a grant of 750,000 francs, and that was the predicted outcome of the vote.
However in the end the majority backed a motion by a minority of councillors to offer only a 350,000 franc grant.
“I didn’t understand the president of the council and thought the vote was for another motion,” councillor Patrick Wyss explained to ATS, saying he told his party colleagues to press the green button instead of the red.
After realizing his mistake he asked for a rerun of the vote, but the council president refused his request, saying it was lodged too late.
So it’s a rather uncool outcome for Bern’s ‘Cycling is cool’ campaign, expected to launch in 2018 for a three-year period.
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According to news agency ATS a majority of the council wanted to give the campaign a grant of 750,000 francs, and that was the predicted outcome of the vote.
However in the end the majority backed a motion by a minority of councillors to offer only a 350,000 franc grant.
“I didn’t understand the president of the council and thought the vote was for another motion,” councillor Patrick Wyss explained to ATS, saying he told his party colleagues to press the green button instead of the red.
After realizing his mistake he asked for a rerun of the vote, but the council president refused his request, saying it was lodged too late.
So it’s a rather uncool outcome for Bern’s ‘Cycling is cool’ campaign, expected to launch in 2018 for a three-year period.
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