It doesn’t happen often that a quarrel is fought in a castle, but at the Ruins of Brederode in Santpoort-South things have been a bit of a mess lately. The board canceled the trust and the contract of manager and resident Rob Kortekaas. That is now being challenged, but if he really leaves, almost the entire collection will also go with him, and almost all ninety volunteers. The solution is simple, according to Kortekaas, who is willing to stay: “Let’s just have a good talk, because that’s what actually went wrong.” According to the board, the time for talking is over.
“Almost all ninety volunteers are behind me, or rather: in front of me,” says Kortekaas. The board informed the manager last month that he must leave after six years. “The board thinks that I ignore their decisions and do not carry out orders.”
But Kortekaas does not know which decisions and assignments exactly, he says. What he does know: “I’ve been working here for six years now, with all those fantastic volunteers. We’ve really put De Ruïne on the map again. The past year was very successful with many visitors.”
A Japanese armor
The Ruins of Brederode is a historic site. The castle was built at the end of the thirteenth century. Now the Ruin is open for most of the yearr public and there are, for example, exhibitions, events and children’s parties.
Many of the sights in the ruins belong to Kortekaas itself. “The weapons, clothes, armor events and also a Japanese armor so you can compare them very nicely. And we have a torture chamber, which are all belongings of a friend of mine, so that belongs to me. The scaffold, which stands in front of the ruin , where endless photos are experienced: that one is also mine.”
Kortekaas would take all these things with him when he has to leave on December 1. And if it is up to the board, that will happen. Chairman Hans Hunting, this weekend: “His contract has been terminated, so he has to go. And then he still has two months to leave his house near the ruin.”
Disguised employment
But thanks to a letter from Kortekaas’ lawyer to the board, the manager will stay on even longer: according to that letter, Kortekaas has not been self-employed for the past six years, but there was a disguised employment contract. This would have rendered the cancellation invalid.
That says volunteer Lucy de Pagter, who saw the situation at the ruin with sorrow. “We’ve been trying to change the board’s mind for a while, but we hadn’t succeeded yet.”
Also the municipality has offered to mediate, but the board would also have declined that offer. That’s right, says chairman Hunting. “We are past the mediation stage.”
“It can’t be true that you fire someone for that”
De Pagter has not yet found out what the exact motives of the board are for wanting to get rid of Kortekaas. “It remains very unclear why exactly they fire Rob. They don’t tell us and Rob doesn’t. And I asked Rob if he has an idea where to look for the reason, but he really didn’t know.”
If so many volunteers and showpieces depend on whether Kortekaas stays or leaves, the question arises: what is not being said here?
“I can only think of two minor incidents,” says De Pagter. “But they are really of the order of: couldn’t you have called instead of emailing”, that you think: it can’t be true that you fire someone for that.”
Rumors
Rumors are already circulating on Facebook. De Pagter: “‘Someone from the board wants to live in the caretaker’s house’, it is said, for example.” “I really don’t believe that at all. But this is what you get if everything remains unclear.”
Chairman of the board Hunting does not want to go into what exactly happened, but does want to say that the board has not taken any chances in the past. “Agreements have not been fulfilled. The fact that we have canceled his contract, despite the fact that so many volunteers and stuff may be leaving, shows how badly confidence has been damaged.”
The letter from Kortekaas’ lawyer to the board also states that the volunteers and Kortekaas want to talk to the board again. “I am still open to negotiations and to just talk to each other,” says Kortekaas.
De Pagter also sees things going well: “We just want to continue, with Rob, and also with this board. Everyone deserves a second chance. But under different conditions, for example with a supervisory board that checks the board. Because there has to be change something.”