Jan van Zanen is only taking it easy for two days

For a moment, Jan van Zanen, from his installation on Wednesday evening as mayor of The Hague, gets it quiet. For two days he has no picket and will not be summoned if there is a threat of a disturbance of public order somewhere in the court city – even if he has already said to come and have a look.

But actually the work of Van Zanen, until Tuesday evening mayor of Utrecht, starts immediately. With acquaintance with the city of which he hitherto mainly knew the Binnenhof side. When he was nominated, it was the first thing that almost all political groups in the city council wanted Van Zanen to do. After all, the new mayor spent a large part of his career in Utrecht.

Read also a portrait of Jan van Zanen: Utrecht was not an end station for Van Zanen. ‘Jan is ambitious’

“He has many pluses and one minus,” said Richard de Mos van Hart for The Hague at the time. “He is not rooted in The Hague, he will have to get to know all parts, from the Schilderwijk to Scheveningen and from Loosduinen to Ypenburg.” Joris Wijsmuller of The Hague City Party advised Van Zanen to “get lost in the nooks and crannies” of the city. Mikal Tseggai (PvdA) advised him not only to search for houses in Bezuidenhout, but also in the Transvaal.

The introduction is somewhat complicated by corona. It is not possible to hold a large reception for residents, such as Van Zanen in Utrecht. According to his spokesman, he will mainly have as many chats as possible with people from The Hague.

And then there are also three large files waiting for Van Zanen, which deputy mayor Johan Remkes designated as a priority eight months ago:

1. Public order

In recent weekends, the ME intervened in demonstrations against corona measures previously prohibited by the mayor. In Utrecht, Van Zanen also banned an anti-lockdown demonstration, but then the protesters stayed at home. In The Hague, there are an average of five demonstrations per week, from small one-man campaigns to large gatherings on the Malieveld.

As chairman of the Haaglanden security region, Van Zanen is responsible for enforcing the emergency regulations. He will also have to be informed about Syrians, subversion, problem areas and groups.

Now the firestacks are playing in Scheveningen and Duindorp in the background. They did not take place last year, which led to unrest. Acting Mayor Remkes had promised to give the builders clarity about their permit before 1 July. There have been ‘constructive conversations’. However, because events are prohibited until 1 September due to corona, applications have been suspended.

2. Integrity

Since the raid on the town hall by the central police, The Hague has been waiting for the results of an investigation into alleged official corruption by former councilors Richard de Mos and Rachid Guernaoui van Hart for The Hague. It is not known when the National Criminal Investigation Service will complete that investigation. All sitting councilors have since been screened, and the screening revealed a lot of confusion about rules.

There are also official issues of integrity: the most important real estate official has left after an investigation into the possible advantage of builder VolkerWessels. He has “not acted transparently in several areas, for example by adding passages to reports”.

At the beginning of this year, Remkes held a ‘pile-driving session’ about integrity with the city council. He previously sent a long letter to the council, which included suggestions on openness of donations and donations to political parties, transparency on principal and ancillary positions, and avoiding “too close” ties with action and interest groups focusing on the policies of the municipality.

3. City council

Remkes’ letter was also about the behavior of the city council, both during council meetings and on social media. Sometimes the mutual debate is going strong. Not only Remkes noticed this, Commissioner of the king of South Holland, Jaap Smit, also criticized earlier. A conversation leaked to Omroep West revealed that he was addressing the chairmen of the groups about their performance. “I watched such a council meeting this week,” he says. “That doesn’t make me happy as a spectator, I have to tell you. I am then looking at the council of the third largest city in the Netherlands with a high profile. Well, well, well, boys. “

It is still being investigated who leaked the conversation, as well as who leaked from the confidential committee that eventually decided to nominate Pauline Krikke, who stepped down in October, as mayor.

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