“I’m not very good at politics,” said Jaap van der Haar. He can laugh about it himself because he has filled his time as alderman in Meppel in his own way. This afternoon he was waved goodbye together with colleague Henk ten Hulscher.
With this, after four years, the aldermanship of 70-year-old Van der Haar, who exchanged the national party board of GroenLinks for the office of alderman for Sterk Meppel. He still stands behind that choice. “The match suited me well.”
At the well-attended farewell meeting in theater Ogterop, he mentioned Meppel’s new heritage policy as the biggest milestone. “We have thought about how to give Meppel a soul. Here next to Ogterop is the former Stad en Esch school. That is a monument that we do not want to protect under a glass dome. It must become part of society. The result is that two monuments have been transformed into a modern residential area.”
Henk ten Hulscher called the social domain the most exciting dossier in his time as a CDA man in Meppel. “It happens to people that you suddenly need all the support. That has to be arranged. There is also another side. There are people who use help very easily. There will always be tension between those two worlds.”
It does not bother him that his party is not part of the new council. “That’s not so bad, a good board party knows both sides of the line. And the last time we didn’t participate, it was followed by a period of eight years at the helm,” said Ten Hulscher.
With a sob in his voice he thanked the former leader of the CDA Meppel, Sandra Wolvekamp. “Nobody in politics should underestimate how important the bond between alderman and party leader is. Official support is important, but politically you engage with the party. Sandra and I have worked together fantastically”
“It is a special feeling that I have been able to do this”, concluded Ten Hulscher. “Meppel, thank you.”