The Mayor and Municipal Executive of Waalre may stay on for the time being. They held a council meeting on Monday evening and night about the administrative crisis in the municipality. This was the conclusion.
The entire opposition voted in favour of a vote of no confidence. The ratio was eight for and eight against, with councillor Erwin Rutten of the AWB coalition party not being able to cast his vote because he is on holiday. That is why the municipal council will vote again on the no-confidence motion at a subsequent meeting. The municipal council did, however, adopt a motion of censure on the way in which the Municipal Executives informed the council about the administrative crisis.
Breach of trust
During the council meeting, Municipal executive Lianne Smit-Volkers explained how the administrative crisis arose. On 10 July, the council held a session at an external location, about the administrative culture. In the course of that session, the Municipal executives came to the conclusion that the municipal administration can function in the short term, but not in the long term.
According to the Municipal executive, this is due to a “profound difference of opinion” about what can be expected of the civil service, in what way the Mayor is collegial to the Municipal executives and what exactly the role of the Mayor is. The Municipal executive could not give concrete examples because this is confidential.
Informing the council
The Municipal executives have informed the Committee on Confidential Matters of the difference of opinion. The Committee on Confidential Matters deals with the possible reappointment of Mayor Jan Brenninkmeijer for a second term or conducting the job interviews if it is decided that another Mayor is desirable. The Mayor is also prepared to take a temporary step back to resolve the administrative crisis in his municipality.
With hindsight, municipal Executive Smit-Volkers believes that they should have informed the entire city council because there is an urgent administrative situation that involves more than just reappointing the Mayor for a second term. “Unfortunately, we have made a wrong assessment here”, Smit-Volkers says.
Research by province
On Monday evening, not much was clear about what the differences are. The municipal council did, however, decide to make a number of letters on the matter public on Tuesday morning.
In the near future, the province will launch an investigation into the administrative situation in Waalre. This investigation should make it clear what exactly the core of the problem is and how the administrative crisis can best be resolved.
Sources:
Translated by: Bob
Edited by: Nicole
