The one is too busy and the other is struggling with the consequences of a serious racing bike accident. That is why the VVD in De Wolden replaces the complete two -headed council fraction. Their successors are two old acquaintances.
The moment of the switch is striking. The council term takes another half year, but the party has no choice but intervene now.
One of the two departing councilors is Ruud Smit. Since January he has been a council member for the VVD. Then he succeeded party chairman Marcel Hulst, who could no longer combine the council work with his job. Smit was not an unknown, after he was already on the council between 2018 and 2022.
But now Smit leaves again, not completely voluntary. Earlier this year he fell with the racing bike and his recovery is slower than expected. He is reintegrating at work and has to keep his head with it. The council work is difficult to combine.
The successor of Smit is an old acquaintance. Yes, Marcel Hulst, the man who was appointed Member in the Order of Oranje-Nassau during his farewell, returns to the council eight months after his departure.
The second departing councilor for the VVD in De Wolden is Hillegonda Jansen. Jansen has been on the council since 2022, but is too busy with the work on its farm. That is why it is now ‘necessary to make choices’.
Jansen is succeeded by Oscar Pont. Again no stranger to the followers of politics in De Wolden. Pont is currently a support fraction member and was also in the council between 2018 and 2022. He will finish the council term.
The VVD thinks that the chair dance will not affect the council work of the party. “Both men have extensive experience in the Wolden Council, which means that training is not necessary and the continuity is guaranteed until the elections in March 2026.”