The city council of Emmen is not necessarily known as a solid battleground. However, lately the flame has often hit the pan. This time about a distribution center near Oranjedorp.
At the business park along the A37, a large block box for packages will soon be erected, 14 meters high and 400 meters long. Certainly not a pleasant prospect for local residents, but a necessary boost for local employment according to the mayor and aldermen of Emmen.
Hot issues
The discussion about it turned out to be a confrontation between the administrative world at the town hall and the real world of angry people involved. Neighbors of the building are furious with the municipal council about ramshackle participation and showed this two weeks ago by speaking in the council chamber. Council members gratefully seized that anger on Tuesday evening to pick a bone with the aldermen.
The script is comparable to recent controversial issues such as the NAM plans with water injection in Schoonebeek and the shelter for the homeless in the village of Westenesch.
“Is it going well now? Well, not exactly”, ChristenUnie foreman Roy Prusscher summarized the performance of the executive and the debate in the city council. “We see a completely different experience on the administrative side than on the side of the residents.”
Residents of Oranjedorp nodded behind him in the public gallery. Prusscher is still mild in his criticism. But the fact that even the good heart of the council is running out of credit for the aldermen seems telling.
Hodgepodge of fractions
Local superpower Wakker Emmen rules the roost thanks to a crushing election victory last year. With fifteen seats, it is one of the largest political groups in the Netherlands. Together with the second party PvdA they form a coalition. The opposition consists of a hodgepodge of small fractions from the far left to the far right. That fragmentation seemed in advance to be a handicap to make a fist, but it has become apparent in recent weeks effective in critique of power. The attack on the Wakker Emmen/PvdA government suddenly comes from all sides.
“An accumulation of mistakes due to hasty decisions,” says GroenLinks on the one hand. “The propaganda machine is on, but the real contact with residents is not working and reflection is missing,” says the VVD from the other side. “The frustration and anger is dripping from the stands here. You bow to large companies”, it sounds from the middle from D66. “The college seems to speak a different language. The antenna is completely wrongly adjusted”, is the attack of the CDA.
Two tactics
The criticism should mainly affect Wakker Emmen. The party grew by signaling discord in society and confronting negligent administrators with it. Both in the role of critical outsider and later in that of reliable insider on the plush, the party seemed to find its way. But those who are at the controls for a long time can also stealthily make the administrative from luxury fingerspitzengefühl lose, and let the close bond with villages and neighborhoods fade away.
The locals themselves do not see that danger. Alderman and party leader René van der Weide is still firmly in control of the party. When faced with criticism from society or politics, he uses two tactics. This is also the case in the Oranjedorp debate. He usually succeeds in doing this with exhaustive and detailed arguments that beat both councilors and public verbally down. It is a talent of the experienced and crafty thirty-something.
In the unlikely event that that does not work, he opts for the counterattack. He did that on Tuesday. “Every year, more than a thousand permit applications, dozens of zoning plans and countless projects in the public space pass here. Sometimes the public interest takes precedence over something that someone does not want on their own doorstep. I have great difficulty with parties selectively citing examples and setting them as the norm. A lot is going right in Emmen.”
Divorces
In his reply to the opposition, Van der Weide received help from the expected corner of party member and party chairman Leo Hoogenberg. “I don’t always get it right at home either. Not getting your way has nothing to do with communication. Giving a yellow card if you don’t like something is going too far.”
That yellow card came late on Tuesday evening in the form of a ‘motion of sorrow’, from the sleeve of new local party Hart voor Emmen. That warning about the prevailing administrative culture was supported by five other political parties. From natural opponents of the incumbent such as PVV and SP, but also from former executive party CDA.
Mayor Eric van Oosterhout had to save the furniture by speaking soothing words as chairman of both the college and the city council. “We don’t get there with the accusation ‘you don’t communicate well’. That’s where most divorces begin.
Lick of paint
He will soon issue an invitation for a therapeutic session with councilors and aldermen to discuss tone, timing and interests in important dossiers. They do that more often in Emmen when things get tough. Moving sharp skirmishes behind the scenes on major matters may perhaps heal mutual trust, but openness is necessary to restore trust between the people and the representation.
The distribution center at Oranjedorp turned out to be just another battlefield in heated relations. The issued permit remains valid. The facade will be given another lick of paint and the building will be moved back five meters. The aldermen invite the residents to join the discussion about how to cover the distribution center with bushes. The people of Oranjedorp felt very little about that follow-up meeting.