The new mayor of Texel will be Mark Pol. Nick Ran, chairman of the confidential committee, announced this in an extra council meeting this evening. Pol is 37 years old and now works at a consultancy firm. He was previously a councilor and alderman in Almere.
In 2007, Pol obtained his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the Vrije Universiteit. He subsequently obtained two more master’s degrees at the same university: Macro-economics and Social Research.
On behalf of the VVD, he sat in the Almere municipal council from 2010. He was subsequently an alderman there from 2013 to 2018 and was responsible for finance.
It is still formally a nomination. The Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations must still approve the appointment. If that happens, the new mayor will be sworn in on December 20.
No mayoral experience
Pol succeeds Michiel Uitdehaag, who moved to Venray earlier this year after more than seven years as mayor, where he will become mayor. After his departure, Rob van der Zwaag did the honors until a new mayor was appointed. Like Uitdehaag, Pol has no previous experience as mayor.
Being mayor on Texel, an island, is slightly different than in any other municipality, according to former mayor Michiel Uitdehaag. “You are more of a 24/7 mayor,” he told NH upon his farewell in May. “People from Texel are headstrong and headstrong and can have heated discussions, but the next day you still have to continue together.”
Applicants
29 people had applied, 11 women and 18 men, the province reported in May. Of these, 17 people had experience in (local) public administration and 12 people had a position outside of that. Later, Texel indicated that there were ultimately 31 applicants, with 2 more men.