For four years they determine the course of your municipality, but you probably know few councilors by name. NH Nieuws talked to three new councilors from the Amstelland region.
Danielle Prent-Bouten (Aalsmeer)
Aalsmeerders took these municipal elections according to the party leader of Absolutely Aalsmeer Chantal van Hilst-Dekker their village back† The local party is the big winner and went from four to six seats. The local CDA faction lost two seats and now stands at six. It must relinquish its place as the largest party to Absolute Aalsmeer, who received more votes.
A very happy Daniëlle Prent-Bouten was sixth on the list of Absolutely Aalsmeer, which means that she can join the council. “At first pride dominates for the party,” says the Aalsmeerse about the moment she heard the result. “Sometime at the end of the next day the penny dropped: ‘I can join the council.’ Then I thought: ‘oh gosh, then I think I’m a councilor now and how will that continue?'”
Daniëlle has now signed the necessary papers and the coalition negotiations have started. “I realize how important this role is. We now really have to live up to ourselves,” she says in a serious tone. Daniëlle has been living in Aalsmeer for 15 years now, together with her wife Michelle and 14-year-old teenage daughter. She loves walking and running and is therefore particularly committed to improving the quality of life and road safety in Aalsmeer.
“Peace, space and greenery”
“It is one of the most beautiful villages in the area. You have peace, space and greenery, but you have seen that change in recent years in asphalting,” she says. Danielle will fight for a green community. Newly constructed roundabouts on the Burgemeester Kasteleinweg could be a lot safer, according to Daniëlle. And Schiphol has to shrink to keep the village liveable. “It is an eyesore for many Aalsmeerders…or rather an ear.”
And then there is another important theme that is dear to the heart of the Aalsmeer. Daniëlle suffers from MS and notices how complicated it is to apply to the municipality. “I therefore also want to commit myself to improving the support from the municipality for people with an occupational disability, disability or chronic illness,” she concludes.
Shaunie the Singer (Uithoorn)
One of the newcomers to the Uithoorn council is Shaunie de Zanger. The 27-year-old was in fifth place in her party DUS!, a local collaboration between D66 and GroenLinks. The party had four seats on the council, and now six. “Everything is possible in fifth place,” Shaunie looks back on her chances before the election. “But I did everything I could in the month before the election, so I had assumed it for the past few weeks.”
“I am a big proponent of self-occupancy”
She has now completed her first group meeting. “There are three committees,” she says. “Social domain, living and working and organizing.” Shaunie has chosen the Living and Working Committee, partly because she is currently experiencing the consequences of the policy, or the lack of it.
Shaunie previously told NH Nieuws that she earns too much for social housing, but not enough for a decent mortgage. And like Shaunie, there are many, but not every frustrated home seeker wins a seat on the city council. So the question is how Shaunie wants to help the frustrated housing market in Uithoorn get going again.
“I am a big proponent of compulsory self-occupancy”, she says. “In many large cities you see that real estate agents buy up houses to divide them up and rent them out at high prices. can be. This ensures that you give starters a good start.”
“That’s why you have to increase the housing stock in the middle segment”
She also hopes to alleviate the housing shortage locally by focusing on homes in the middle segment. “Not necessarily social rental housing. Although that segment also deserves attention, according to her, there is not a great lack of social rental housing.”
“The problem is that many people have so-called ‘skewed living’: they actually earn too much for social housing, but do not move to a home in the middle segment because it would be more expensive. “That’s why you have to increase the housing stock in the middle segment.”
Also with tiny houses you would be part of the (lokale) can solve a housing shortage. “There is an enormous demand for it,” she says, referring to a project in Aalsmeer that received about 1,900 applications for 25 homes. These small houses are affordable for first-time buyers, she argues. “And they take up relatively little space.”
Kitty Huisman (Amstelveen)
Kitty Huisman’s party from Amstelveen also won just enough seats to get her on the council. kitty is committed to the local party Civic Interests Amstelveen (bbA), which won five seats and therefore has a good chance of becoming part of the new coalition. The largest party in Amstelveen, VVD, has started coalition negotiations with D66.
Kitty is convinced that bbA as a local party can be a good addition to the current coalition. “A local party is closer to the people and does not have a national agenda. People are not listening enough yet.” She sees a good partner in the VVD, because the parties are not diametrically opposed to each other. “And it’s no longer a little gnome and the big boss,” she says, referring to the growth of her party.
Kitty has lived in Amstelveen since she was 15. She made a trip of a few years to England, where her husband is from, but returned anyway. She now lives in Amstelveen again with her husband and 18-year-old son.
The animal lover likes to be found in the Amsterdamse Bos with her two dogs, one of which unfortunately passed away this week, and strangely enough, her political career started there a year and a half ago. “I knew bbA founder Linda Roos from walking the dogs.” The party seemed like something to the Amstelveense, who has always been happy to contribute to society.
Living close to home
For the next four years, Kitty wants to interfere with her party members in the search for a solution to the housing crisis. “Houses need to be added, but not at the expense of greenery,” she says. According to her, the focus is now a bit too much on medium-priced homes, although Kitty thinks it is important to promote traffic flow. “But there must also be affordable housing. Teachers, police officers and care workers must be able to live close to their work,” she says.
From her work as a budget coach, Kitty is also interested in the social side. “There are already many good arrangements, but there are always things that you can improve.” The Amstelveense believes that many problems can be prevented by picking up signals earlier.