ODENSE: Odense Municipality denies that the desire to publish a traffic analysis on the port expansion in Odense only at the end of the year has anything to do with the upcoming election campaign.
This comes after internal emails - which Fyens Stiftstidende has been granted access to - showed that officials in August and September discussed waiting with the publication until "after the election".
According to city manager Eik Møller, the wording has been misunderstood. He emphasizes to DK Nyt that it has not been a question of political considerations, but a question of professional timing.
- I can reject the speculation that there have been indications or similar from the politicians involved about connections between the publication of the analysis and the election campaign in November. Or that the civil service itself has had this element in its considerations, says Eik Møller.
He explains that the expression "after the election" in the internal correspondence was simply intended as a time marker for the end of the year.
- What is important to highlight here is the context. The communication shows a correspondence where different formulations are used as a time marker for the end of the year. For example, I also use the formulation 'end of 2025'. Notably because it is professionally relevant and within the legal scope to discuss different time horizons, says the city director.
According to him, the municipality wanted to ensure that the analysis was professionally completed and adjusted with comments from both its own professionals and the supplier before publication.
Wants to avoid misunderstandings about word choice in the future
The city director explains that the municipality wanted to ensure that the analysis was completed and adjusted with input from both professionals and the supplier before it was published.
Since the increasing traffic volumes between Odense and Kerteminde have long been known and discussed in the Economic Committee, the municipality considered that it was professionally relevant to integrate the analysis's conclusions with other infrastructural needs. At the same time, they wanted to prepare a thorough political discussion and clarify the state's possible role in co-financing a future road expansion.
Therefore, it was natural that the process pointed towards the end of the year, explains Eik Møller
- The various things together point to the fact that it is obvious to arrive at the end of the year. That time horizon is not unnatural, because this is an infrastructure project that will potentially not see the light of day until the 2030s. When I use the phrase "after the election", it is a time marker for the end of the year. That is why I also use the wording at the end of 2025 elsewhere.
He emphasizes that the communication between Odense and Kerteminde Municipalities was informal and was about the organization of a larger project.
- When you take the phrase "after the election" out of the context in which it is included, it obviously creates a risk of the misunderstanding that it is about the period leading up to the election. While what was actually intended was to use it as a time marker for the period after the election, at the end of 2025. I will of course pay extra attention to that another time, he says.
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