If local politicians in Alkmaar don’t stop fighting personal feuds soon, the city threatens to become ungovernable. Some prominent politicians warn against this.
The atmosphere within Alkmaar politics has been toxic for months. Members of parliament make life miserable for each other through the press and in council meetings. And now there are allegations of power games, intimidation and even racism.
“It mainly sounds to me as if council members feel personally misunderstood here, cannot get through a door among themselves and seize things to make their point. Personal relationships in particular seem to have soured,” says political researcher Chris Aalberts about the situation.
Bernt Schneiders, former mayor of Haarlem, thinks that the governance of Alkmaar could be jeopardized if the council members do not resolve their mutual problems. Schneiders knows what he’s talking about: as a ‘political doctor’ he previously researched the administrative culture in Bergen.
“Council members or political groups think that because they have the vote of the voter, with that mandate they are allowed to know how they conduct politics. They only ignore that the city council bears a joint responsibility for the city.”
‘The growing city of Alkmaar faces serious challenges. This is a waste of time’
At the blows of the previous Alkmaar coalition (the parties did not agree on asylum reception in the city) it was already clear: things are not going well between a number of political parties. Forming a new coalition also went in fits and starts: the parties did not necessarily want to cooperate with each other.
Those involved state that this was not based on content, but on the basis of personal relationships. An interview in the Noordhollands Dagblad has further disrupted the relationship between the coalition and the opposition. It mud throwing in the newspaper has only continued ever since.
Accusation of racism
Someone from coalition party ChristenUnie accused in it opposition councilors of power games, intimidation and even racism. After that, the pan caught fire during an hour-long council meeting: three people announced that they would report defamation. These kinds of feuds sometimes occur within city councils, observes political reporter from NH Maarten Edelenbosch.
“Only very strong words are used here and played on the man”, he says after watching the meeting of August 29. “In the short term this should not cause any problems, but the parties still have to continue with each other for four years.” And during that period important decisions have to be made.
“The growing city of Alkmaar faces serious challenges, such as youth care, asylum seekers and status holders, energy, climate, the regional energy strategy and housing construction. Then it would be a waste of time to manage the city with the entire club instead of , to talk for three hours about the bad relations?”
‘Slow decision-making is stagnation’
The coalition now only has a one-seat majority. According to Schneiders, it is very important that the relations between the opposition and coalition are good. “No one benefits from polarization and in a democracy, most votes count.”
“If parties continue to stick to their positions, it will no longer be possible to reach a majority that is needed to make a decision.” And that can lead to slow decision-making: “That solving problems in the city gets in the background.”
And could that result in an ungovernable Alkmaar? Schneiders: “Absolutely. If parties no longer have the ability to step over their own shadow due to personal feuds, there is a threat of stagnation. Stagnation is regression.”
‘Not really a delay yet’
At the moment, the Alkmaarder will not notice much of the quarrel in the council, thinks Alkmaar’s longest-serving councilor (28 years) Maya Bolte (of coalition party Liveable Alkmaar). “We’ve just got off the starting blocks and I haven’t really noticed any delays yet. But this is not good for the atmosphere.”
“You have to give each other something and people also have to want to take a step back”
The question is whether an announced independent investigation and an external confidential advisor are the key to pais and peace. “It makes sense to me,” said ‘Doctor’ Schneiders. “But even better is to look each other in the eye at the start of such a council term and make clear agreements about manners: what is desirable and undesirable behavior? Name everything. That way a mayor can also aim for that.”
Aalberts thinks it should be made very clear what this disagreement is about. “Really naming what is going on. But everyone is a party in the council, so I think there must be an external conscience, with authority, that says: why are you here?”
Cabinet of Curiosities in Alkmaar
Political researcher Aalberts does think that few ‘normal Alkmaarders’ can follow this political riot at all. “He says this and he says that, actually it is nonsense to write that down. Only when it comes to the major themes that play in Alkmaar will it appeal to the resident. The only thing you get through these messages is that people maybe start to think there’s some kind of cabinet of curiosities in power.”
Nestor Bolte: “I do not know whether the measures that have now been announced are a blessing. I would rather see everyone draw a line under this. We have to be able to deal with each other normally, you have to give each other something and people also have to take a step once want to do it back. And I’m not going to name names, this applies to all sides. This can’t go on like this. We have to run a city.”
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