Anno Wietze Hiemstra (47) was sworn in again in Gieten tonight as mayor of the municipality of Aa and Hunze. In his second term as a citizen father, he wants to finally reclaim an earlier promise: a journey through all 35 villages of the municipality.
The reappointment of Hiemstra does not exactly come as a surprise. In April, the city council of Aa and Hunze voted for a new term from the mayor, so that he can play the office for another six years.
In his reappointment speech at the town hall in Gieten, Hiemstra briefly looks back on his experiences, he was assured in advance, the ‘quiet’ municipality of which he became mayor.
“We have had many crises. Think of Corona, the farmer’s protests, the earthquake at Ekehaar and the inflow of refugees,” he sums up. “I sometimes think back to those words that it is calm in Aa and Hunze.”
Hiemstra is proud of the fact that the municipality takes care of hundreds of refugees from Ukraine and other countries. “If something is difficult or difficult, then we put our shoulders under it together,” he says.
Hiemstra was born in Bolsward, but grew up in Noordscheschut. His political career started in Hoogeveen, as a municipal councilor for the CDA. In 2010 he became alderman on behalf of the Christian Democrats in that municipality.
After eight years of aldermans, Hiemstra became acting mayor of the municipality of Appingedam, until he was appointed mayor of Aa and Hunze in September 2019.
Immediately after his appointment in 2019, Hiemstra announced that he wanted to visit all the villages in Aa and Hunze, to get acquainted with his municipality. That intention was roughly interrupted a few months later by the outbreak of the Coronapandemie.
“The customized travel bag I had received, where I took gifts from the villages, is still in my room,” says the mayor in his reappointment speech.
In his new term, Hiemstra now finally wants to make the Village Tour that he promised in his first year. “I would like to know about the inhabitants they are proud of in their village.”