The moment Jan Zwiers hears that he is being nominated as the new mayor of Central Drenthe, he literally jumps for joy. But happy with his upcoming appointment, the 56-year-old resident of Aalden is certain. “If you get this far in the application process, you hope that you will, of course. We have sat together as a family to celebrate this.”
The alderman of the municipality of Hoogeveen was chosen from the 21 candidates. Chairman Robert Brouwer of the confidential committee indicated last night that Zwiers is the perfect candidate in their eyes, because he “is a warm personality who can connect people. And he has an eye for fellow human beings. That is important to us.”
Zwiers: “I like to bring that to Central Drenthe. I have an eye for people, I have empathy. I can put that to good use in such a beautiful rural municipality.” Because the rural feeling attracted the former director of FC Emmen. “I’m a rural person, I grew up in the village. And yes, you have something with that.”
In Midden-Drenthe he will succeed acting mayor Cees Bijl, who was deputy after the departure of Mieke Damsma. Due to a difficult relationship with the city council, she resigned her duties on November 15, 2021. Zwiers is not afraid of a similar scenario. “I don’t see dark clouds that quickly. I once started in Coevorden without experience. That went pretty well.”
In Hoogeveen, where he has been an alderman on behalf of Gemeentebelangen Hoogeveen since 2022, it was also restless when he stepped in. “That cannot be compared with Midden-Drenthe, because they now have the momentum there. We will undoubtedly encounter challenges. You should not run away from them. And if you do not make mistakes anywhere, you will not learn anything. So they will come too. We’re just going to get to work.”
Although he is looking forward to his new job, Zwiers regrets having to stop in Hoogeveen. “I want to stay as long as possible to be able to transfer it properly. I enjoy it here and have good contact with society. A warm transfer is always nice if you can achieve that. I have nice colleagues here in the college and good advice.”
Zwiers will start in Midden-Drenthe on September 5 and will be looking for a home in the municipality in the meantime. “That’s how it should be and that’s how it should be.”