Corine van Overdijk will be the new mayor of Valkenswaard. The current alderman of the municipality of Oirschot has been nominated by the Valkenswaard city council as the new mayor. Van Overdijk succeeds acting mayor Han Looijen. He took over the baton temporarily when Anton Ederveen said goodbye in March. Van Overdijk will be the first female mayor of Valkenswaard.
The new mayor will be installed on 19 November during a public council meeting by Commissioner of the King Ina Adema. First, the Minister of the Interior and the King must still officially give the green light for the appointment, but it is expected that that will not be a problem.
First female mayor
Van Overdijk must become the successor of Anton Ederveen. In March he said goodbye after 18 years as mayor of Valkenswaard. This made Ederveen one of the longest -serving mayors of Brabant. When he started that position at the time, he was the youngest mayor of the Netherlands. After his departure, Mayor Han Looijen temporarily took over.
The VVD politician from Oirschot will be the first female mayor of Valkenswaard. “A novelty for Valkenswaard is created with the new female mayor. The gender has never been the starting point for the confidence committee. The best candidate had to be,” says chairman of the Fred Emmerik confidential committee.
29 applicants
Van Overdijk held various administrative positions within companies in the Brainport region. She is not completely unknown with Valkenswaard. In the past she lived in the municipality for a while and taught High School Were Di in Valkenswaard.
In total, 29 people applied for the position of mayor of Valkenswaard: eighteen men and eleven women. The large majority of the applicants already had political experience.