of EUR 59.40 for private car use. Ahlhaus continued despite tight budgets in 2010 through the acquisition of a riding squad with a total investment of approximately €600,000 and annual operating costs of €200,000. Under Interior Minister Michael Neumann (SPD) entertainment contracts are to be closed by 2015. His desire to hold on to the continued existence of the police orchestra, with an annual cost of 1.5 million euros, was in some part because of a lack of understanding, despite his cuts in the cultural department. His successor Scholz upholds this tradition. First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg On 18 July 2010, Beust announced his resignation as mayor of Hamburg, so he could devote more time to his personal life. His recommendation to nominate Christoph Ahlhaus as his successor was unanimously followed by Hamburg's CDU Regional Executive. The election of the First Mayor of the CDU-Green Senate majority was fixed for the first meeting of the citizenry after the parliamentary summer recess on 25 August 2010. However, the coalition partners GAL initially reacted skeptically to the nomination of Christoph Ahlhaus. They called on the conservative hardliner politicians to follow Beust's liberal route and to abide by the coalition agreement. Ahlhaus put himself firmly behind the agreement between the CDU and GAL, which had existed since 2008, and also expressed his readiness to face the Green base in August 2010. After the meeting with the basis of the GAL on 18 August, both Ahlhaus and representatives of the GAL expressed confidence in being able to continue the CDU-Green coalition. The Green Youth party demanded an exit from the coalition. Ahead of the planned election Ahlhaus' membership in the Turnerschaft Ghibellinia was made public. This triggered anger in the GAL, and leaders of the party put the support of their faction in the election for the Lord Mayor in question. They demanded Ahlhaus' clarification about his relations with the Turnerschaft and complained that in their view, nationalist tendencies and misogynistic principles are present in connections with the Coburg Convents. Ahlhaus stated that he had not had contact with the Heidelberg Turnerschaft for years. He had asked the chairman of the fraternity to no longer consider him a member. When choosing the First Mayor on 25 August 2010 it came in spite of previous disputes as a surprise. Christoph Ahlhaus received 70 votes in favor on the first ballot,