Putin van Ruiselede? Churchill is more appropriate’: ex-mayor Wingene supports mayor of Ruiselede

The merger plans with Wingene put De Roo in the eye of the storm. At the end of last month there was a referendum in Ruiselede, which showed dissatisfaction with the merger. More than 91 percent voted against. But the referendum is not binding. A certain newspaper later called Deroo the Putin van Ruiselede. According to Hendrik Verkest, ‘Churchill’ is more appropriate. Read the open letter below.

“Flanders preaches mergers, voluntarily with a carrot and stick behind the door of forced merger after 2024. Administrative power is screened, but the implementation is left to the municipalities. The mergers can be the subject of a non-binding referendum. Neither Belgium, nor Flanders allows or dares to subject its state reform or internal administrative reorganization to a referendum. The reorganizations are rightly the policy competence of the elected officials and administrators. They know their organization and their required administrative power. In the case of the municipalities, this responsibility is undermined with the sham participation of a consultative referendum that is hijacked by all kinds of emotions and nostalgia. The path to stronger future-oriented administrative power thus becomes a road through a war zone.”

The Wingene-Ruiselede merger case

“If you set up a survey, you will get a very diffuse answer. Many are against a merger and the proponents are divided over Aalter, Tielt and Wingene. In the event of a merger, the autonomy of the municipal council would shift to the referendum (citizen). Let Flanders be like that creating a framework, knowing that the dead end is ingrained… .

We do not take the criticism of lack of participation upon ourselves. A detailed project is immediately presented that is substantiated and comprehensible through the administrative power measurement and that is discussed by a majority in the municipal council. The knowledge of governability lies with the administrators and the municipal administration and not with the citizen.

Now a concrete proposal is being presented to the municipal councils, which is in principle more democratic than when it is imposed from Flanders.

The inhabitant of the small rural community feels comfortable in her cocoon and wishes to keep it. Rural living is cherished, the neighborhood, association life, …; exponents of tranquility and small-scale connectedness. The coincident national DNA with the boroughs of Wingene and Zwevezele is precisely the guarantee that the rural and village-specific character will be safeguarded. With its 5,400 inhabitants, Ruiselede makes up more than a quarter of the new merged municipality. They already share many partnerships within the Midwest region and their elementary schools work within the umbrella school board Driespan. The power measurement confirms this. Those who fear should urgently go to Zwevezele. The village of 6200 inhabitants, its associations and entrepreneurs have developed and bustled like never before since the merger of 1977 and it now also provides the mayor.

What is remarkable about this discussion is that no nuances are introduced and that the emotional debate takes precedence over the substantive and administrative aspects. The mayor is courageous and thinks forward for her municipality; she is burned down. “They are fibering Ruiselede’s Putin behind her back,” a newspaper headlines. Who lost the pedals here? Is Churchill out of place here?”

A side goal of mergers?

“Flanders does not dare to start at the bottom and impose growth figures in subsequent administrative periods according to a growth model that did have results in the Netherlands. The target figure of 10,000 inhabitants at the mergers of 1977 was not yet achieved in many places.

In many places, the municipal authorities run into problems to ensure all services, both with quality personnel and financially.

The road to more administrative power has actually been narrowed down by the Flemish government to a financial bonus that increases (€200 to €500) as the municipality grows. There is sometimes talk of a merger scale of at least 20,000 inhabitants with a target figure of 40,000. The current approach leads to perversion in which large cities such as Antwerp (500,000 inhabitants) and Mechelen (88,000 inhabitants) try to buy out small suburbs in order to collect the financial merger bonus to pay off their debts. Is that the intention or the way to governance of powerful municipalities or a hold-up on the other municipalities and the taxpayer of already very richly subsidized municipalities? FYI Antwerp and Ghent make a prepayment of 40% from the Municipal Fund. For the remaining 60%, they then share again according to the criteria. This means that they receive almost €1600 per inhabitant annually; for the rural municipalities this is about €300.

For us there is no contradiction between a merger into a powerful rural municipality and realizing and even strengthening the feel-good feeling of our residents. With her future-oriented vision, the mayor ends up in a fictional field of tension.”