In the summer, the municipality of Den Helder was the last municipality to present a new council with seven aldermen. Just as many as four years ago, although there are actually eight: in two years’ time, one alderman will change places with someone else. Is it bad that Den Helder has so many aldermen? Or are there also advantages?
Former alderman (and trainer of councilors and aldermen) Michiel van der Eng is clear: he is not in favor of large alderman teams, although he understands it. Because the vote is more divided, more parties are needed to form a coalition. And each party wants to supply its own alderman. “As a coalition party, you naturally want to have a voice at the table.”
Van der Eng continues: “At the same time, it does not benefit decision-making. The aldermen do not always agree with each other, while you do need everyone to coordinate decisions. This creates an endless consultation circuit within the coalition. two or three parties you will logically be out faster.”
slower
The result is that decision-making takes longer, thinks Van der Eng. “It will go slower. It will take them longer to agree. A municipality does not become ungovernable so quickly, but that also depends on the city council. If everything is made a point and a political scandal is it’s a lot more complicated.”
However, he does not only see negative sides. “It can also have a positive effect. With more drivers in the city, they can also do more and are therefore more visible.”
Political researcher Chris Aalberts would also prefer a smaller college. “They simply have that function, because they are in the coalition. It is not substantively controlled. Personally, I see few differences between the parties, so I think: why can’t they work together? Why don’t several parties supply one alderman with each other?”
Rainbow
“Now you are condemned to a rainbow-like state,” continues Aalberts. “They are not open to other constructions. Even the ChristenUnie also wanted to provide an alderman with only one seat, otherwise they would not want to join the coalition. The rest did not go along with that. You have to move towards a different logic, so that the number of aldermen does not out of the scuppers.”
“In addition, the coalition agreement is very vague. GroenLinks is also in the coalition, but it is not an outspoken green agreement. It even needs to be worked out. Not much will change, they mainly continue with what they were already doing. So why then? so many aldermen?”
No difference
Pieter Kos, alderman since 2014 and therefore the longest serving alderman in Den Helder, sees it differently. “It has advantages and disadvantages. More parties are needed to achieve a stable government than twenty years ago. And each party wants to exert influence by supplying an alderman. Yet I have never noticed a difference in the pace of the decision-making, whether we were sitting at the table with four, five or seven parties.”
Kos is now one of the part-time aldermen in Den Helder. Municipalities opt for this, because only a maximum number of aldermen can be appointed. In order to be able to appoint more, it is necessary for people to be part-time aldermen. Still, according to Kos, it is an ‘illusion’ to think that he can do the job part-time. “Alderman you are 24/7.”
But many aldermen do not necessarily have to be bad, he thinks: “It is great that you have to come to solutions with more parties, with different ideology and diverse backgrounds.”