No real city without night mayor. This also applies to Assen. And after tonight there is a new one: Chiel Setz, who takes over the baton from Erwin Zijlstra. At five o’clock this afternoon that baton was transferred to the Noabershop on Rolderstraat in Assen.
In this case the baton is its own chain of office: the symbol of the night, with a night owl. The installation of the 23-year-old Setz could simply result in a pub crawl in the Asser city center.
Setz makes it clear that the role of night mayor is not only about the pubs of the city. He also heard that from his predecessor Zijlstra, better known as Zed Zeedy. “I go into the city a lot, but I also think it is humor that Zed Zeedy first said that he sometimes sleeps.”
Setz himself has already earned his spurs in Assen with the organization understanding. With that he is committed to young people: “The idea is to empower young people with the ideas they have.”
He takes that thought as a night mayor. “But I also want to be a night mayor of everyone. So that may also be that there is a better mix. It is very cool that this also happens in a number of bars in the city center. For example, at De Witte Bal, there is a great deal of balance between young, old, middle age.”
“In fact, as a night mayor you are the link between the hospitality industry, municipality and nightlife. My mission has been in recent years to give young people a place in the city. In such a way that they can participate as equals.”
In addition, Setz also look at the youth center that the city is possible. That goes well with nightlife in the entertainment center: “It can reinforce each other. I also argue that youth center is in the center of Assen. It is not worth anything if you are dumped on an industrial site as a young person.”
The new night mayor laughs if he is asked for a score for nightlife. “Yes, look, I am not impartial. I now give it a seven. But that should certainly be an eight, maybe a nine.”
That must be done by a more varied selection in the hospitality industry. “Many things lack the ‘niche’. You have a lot of standard cafes. But we still miss special things, for example a pub where you can take an LP, or a coffee shop where occasionally a band plays or where you can play a game.”
Setz does not want to do it alone: he wants the support of a night council, as a ‘normal’ mayor has a city council. “Of course it is not a democratically elected advice. But you can bring together good representation of what is happening in the city. I think it will be a council of around fifteen people in the starting phase.”