Just over a week and the municipality of Boekel will have the youngest councilor in the country. 23-year-old Matt Kanters will succeed Ben Brands on November 13, who had to resign from his duties due to illness. Despite his young age, Matt knows Boekel politics inside and out. “I grew up here, and my love for my community is great.”
The Christmas tree is up, the balls are ready to be hung and the lights still have to be picked up. Almost all the ingredients for a great Christmas are there, even though November has only just begun. “I still have time for that now, but not later,” Matt Kanters laughs.
“Just a smart piece of time management,” adds the future councilor. “I think that is a pleasant period. I may not have time anymore, so it could have happened. Although the tree would have already been there if I had not become an alderman.”
The 23-year-old has recently started living independently in an apartment in the heart of Boekel. He can even see his new workplace from the window of his living room. “I grew up here and I have a great love for my community. I like short lines of communication and being able to achieve results quickly. And that is possible here. That really appeals to me.”
Kanters exchanged handball for politics at a young age. “When I was fourteen, a course on municipal politics was given by the mayor. I was the youngest participant and found it very interesting.”
“I entered into the debate with councilors who had a lot of experience. That was interesting.”
Not much later he joins the local party where his father was also active. “Not only because of our porridge, but the content of the party also appealed to me,” says Kanters, who became a citizen member of the Democratic Independent Party (DOP) in 2018.
Two years later his father said goodbye to the party. “Then I took over his place as a city councilor,” he says. Two years later, on March 30, 2022, he will become party leader. “There’s a lot involved. You try to be aware of everything. That’s intense, but you learn a lot from it.”
And now, with a few years of experience, he is on the eve of a new challenge. Until the next municipal elections, he will fill the position of former councilor Ben Brands. “Someone has to fill that position. It is important that someone knows the files and can start quickly. I really like the fact that I can do that.”
It’s not something that his peers are often involved in, but that doesn’t bother him. “I’m not really a party animal, but mainly a political junkie. That takes up a lot of time. And when I have time left, it’s not sensational hobbies: I like watching movies, going to the gym or listening to music.”
“Other than that, I just want to remain myself, so I have confidence that things will turn out well.”
The mayor of Boekel, Caroline van den Elsen, is happy with the arrival of the new councilor. “He is enthusiastic and driven, and despite his young age, he already has a lot of experience in local democracy. With his background and file knowledge, we look forward to a great collaboration.”
Kanters himself remains sober. “You can’t study for it, so I mainly want to invest in experience. During my first working days I will have coffee with people I want to get to know in my new role. Furthermore, I mainly want to remain myself, and then everything will be fine.”
