I also thought of the possibility that the downtown renovation drive emptied the town's coffers, and only paying debts remained afterwards. However, I checked, and found that our major left office after 24 years in 2004, with a successor from the same party (CDU...) being elected with a rather high margin, so it seems he didn't give that many reasons for people to blame him.

I note that while railway stations are owned by DB, renovations are usually paid for by a mix of public sources, any of which can be the project owner. So even if DB unilaterally withdraws from the station, the town could have spent on it.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}