The mayor of Someren, Dilia Blok, has responded to the stories of three officials in the court of Den Bosch. The officials were heard in the case of the dismissed alderman Guido Schoolmeesters. He was sent home by the city council last year for not acting with integrity.
Schoolmeesters would have favored his son when he wanted to buy a house in the new Groote Hoeven district. He would also have favored a construction company. He is furious about his dismissal and targets the investigative report that led to his dismissal.
Three officials were called to testify. In court, the officials said they were interviewed by the investigators, but found very little of it in the report. They also could not agree with the conclusion that the alderman would have favored a construction company. “Each construction company is judged on its merits,” one of them said on Tuesday.
The officials also said that they were ‘surprised’ and ‘dismayed’ at the answers of the council to questions about the Schoolmasters issue. “The answers we had given had changed,” they told the court.
According to Schoolmeesters and the political party to which he belongs, the Community List, the city council has been misinformed, a political mortal sin. However, according to the municipality, the college has the right to adjust answers. “The officials answered in good faith, based on what they knew. Their answers have certainly been taken seriously,” the municipality of Someren wrote in a statement on Wednesday.
The mayor had also received information from other parties, such as the results of the investigation, and a modified answer was then decided. Dilia Blok: “The facts in the investigative report and the decision of the city council to dismiss the alderman on the basis thereof are not up for discussion, as far as I am concerned, even after the witness hearings.”
The officials indicated in court that they were asking for clarification after the answers changed. A meeting with the municipal secretary and the mayor followed. That conversation was said to have been ‘intimidating’ and ‘very unpleasant’. “If they feel they have been pressured during the talks, I regret that, because that is never my intention. This definitely keeps my attention.”
Several municipal councilors in Someren indicate that they still want to talk about the testimonies of the officials. They think it is too early to conclude that the city council has been misinformed.
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