Who will receive the chain of office of the municipality of Midden-Drenthe on September 5, making him the new mayor of the largest municipality in Drenthe? That will be announced tonight.
The city council will elect behind closed doors who it will put forward tonight. The town hall is also closed at that time. Their decision will then be announced at the public council meeting, which starts at 9:30 p.m.
In January it became known what Midden-Drenthe was looking for. A profile sketch was drawn up, residents could provide input for this. 491 responses were received, which the confidential committee set to work on. That committee consists of eight council members, one person was delegated on behalf of each party in the city council.
They were looking for a ‘sensitive director who operates decisively and in a binding manner’. “You create a relaxed atmosphere and bring humor to the debate,” the committee writes in the profile. Experience in leading debates is desirable. It is also expected that the new mayor will go out to get in touch with residents and entrepreneurs.
22 Dutch people felt that they met the wishes of Midden-Drenthe. Six women and 16 men, most of them (9) are non-party or did not indicate a political preference. Six CDA members felt called upon to write, as did two VVD members and two PvdA members. A candidate applied on behalf of the ChristenUnie, D66 and GroenLinks.
In the run-up to the job interviews and an ‘external assessment’, one candidate dropped out. And so in recent months, 21 candidates have been spoken to. On the basis of this, the committee made a selection, two candidates are still in the race.
“It is mandatory to always nominate two candidates. Only the name of the candidate in first place will be made public,” the committee explains. The procedure surrounding the appointment of a mayor is secret.
“The candidate will ultimately be presented to the King for appointment. The new mayor is expected to be sworn in by the King’s Commissioner on Tuesday, September 5, 2023.”
Central Drenthe is looking for a mayor after Mieke Damsma (D66) resigned her position in November 2021 due to her difficult relationship with the city council. In 2017, the former alderman of Maastricht was appointed.
PvdA member Cees Bijl was subsequently appointed acting mayor. At that time he was still a deputy of the province of Drenthe, but had already announced that he would stop to retire. When asked by King’s Commissioner Jetta Klijnsma whether he was still interested in a temporary job in Central Drenthe, the experienced politician said ‘yes’.