Jeroen Dijsselbloem became mayor of Eindhoven just over a year ago. In an interview with Studio040 he discusses the challenges the city faces. In this third and final part of the interview he talks about his personal experiences in this first year as mayor.
“It’s a moving train, and the train is going at speed. It is never boring”, says Dijsselbloem. “I had a very positive receptionand that was pleasant, I was accepted immediately. Next, it’s down to business because so much is happening all at once. So it’s hard work, but the atmospphere is good”.
The former minister of Finance says he did not really know what to expect before he came to Eindhoven. Ï have never been a mayor, or an alderperson, I was only a councillor long long ago, so I did not really know what to expect. Which has its advantages, I am not copying anyone. I do the job as I think it needs to be done. I was hoping for a lot of dynamism. I needed a dynamic environment and I found it in Eindhoven.”
Cooperation
Dijsselbloem’s greatest pride after his first year is the way in which all forms of cooperation within and from the city work. “Both with the various political parties within the city, the college and the council, but also with all the institutions and companies the cooperation becomes closer and closer”.
“The contributions companies are making to the challenges in the city are increasing, and cooperation with the provincial and the national government is becoming closer. We are in almost weekly contact to solve problems, The cooperation in the region , with the 21 municipalities, is also good, despite the fairly large differences between big city Eindhoven and some of the smaller municipalities”.
Maintanance
Dijsselbloem sees furthering smooth cooperation as an important element in his job as a mayor. “I know from experience that cooperation needs maintenance; if you do not invest in the process it can get stuck quite easily. In a region with 21 municipalities there are 21 different interests. It is important to keep listening to one another and a large part of my job is ensuring thta the train keeps running”.
We know a lot more about the people on the monument than we did
Names monument
Although most of Dijsselbloem’s first year was smooth, there was one thorny issue “The matter of the names on the war monument was the hardest, most painful issue. Investigation showed that it contained quite a few error, names of people who had been in German military service. Those names should not appear on our memorial. It was painful for the vistims and their next of kin”.
Having said that, the mayor expresses his satisfaction with the process of putting matters right. “We cooperated very closely with those involved to renovate the monument before 18 September. Names of people who should not have been mentioned were removed, and 150 new names were added to the monument. The good thing is that we know a great deal more about these people, over 1100 people, than before – how they died, what happened”.
I hope we can maintain our easy-going attitude
“Being a mayor is being on a voyage of discovery”, says Dijsselbloem. “How does it work? What is my role in the college? To what extent can I take on a role as problem solver, when is it o.k. to take the initiative? This is appreciated sometimes, but not at all at other times. This is alos noticeable in the concil. On the one hand the council wants a mayor with authority who keeps everything together, but this should not curtail the freedom of the councillors. It’s a balancing act”.
Voyage of discovery
It takes Dijsselbloem little time to come up with an example. “During one council meeting, when a party wanted to ask questions about a certain issue, I pointed out that this was the umptieth time tere were questions about the same issue, whereupon the party leader said – and rightly so- that councillors have every right to ask further questions if they see the need. I admitted that the councillor was right, of course.
‘Eindhoven should remain itself’
Dijsselbloem is clear about his ambition for his second year. “In this time of rising tensions, nationally as well as internationally, I hope we can remain ourselves, that we manage to keep the tensions at bay. I hope we can continue to be easygoing, our characteristic attitude. It is this attitude that enables us to work so well together, because we can avoid the highly strung atmosphere we can see elsewhere. I really hope we can manage that, because it the region’s strength. I will make every effort to safeguard it”.
