Councilor Jo Palmen of BBB/Lijst Palmen submitted a no-confidence motion against Mayor Wilma van der Rijt on Tuesday evening in the council meeting of Brunssum. But the four-page motion could not count on a majority.
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Detriment
Only two members of his own group voted in favour. Palmen believes that ‘the mayor is not acting carefully and reliably’. He also says that ‘the way in which she exercises her office is detrimental to Brunssum’s administrative status.’
In the clinch
Palmen already announced the motion at the start of the meeting when the list of decisions was drawn up. He clashed several times with the mayor, who had to cut him off a few times.
Suspension
The handling of the motion was even suspended for a while, because it was not clear whether or not the motion should be read. But that turned out not to be necessary. The council also declined to discuss the content of the matter.
‘It hurts’
The mayor saw herself supported by the other council factions and left it with a short statement afterwards. “It hurts. It hurts, because there’s no way you can see it coming and explain it.”