The Utrecht city council nominates Sharon Dijksma (PvdA) as the new mayor. That was decided on Tuesday evening after a council meeting in which a vote was taken on two preferred candidates.
Dijksma should be the successor of Jan van Zanen (VVD), who will be in July mayor of The Hague became. Peter den Oudsten (PvdA) has been acting mayor of the cathedral city in recent months.
Dijksma is currently still a councilor in Amsterdam. Dijksma was previously State Secretary for Infrastructure and the Environment in the Rutte II cabinet, State Secretary for Economic Affairs in the same cabinet, State Secretary for Education in the Balkenende IV cabinet and in several periods a Member of Parliament.
Heleen de Boer, party chairman for GroenLinks in the municipality of Utrecht, called Dijksma a “strong and very experienced administrator”. “Her broad network is in line with Utrecht’s ambition and can help us in the lobby”, says De Boer.
Dijksma responded enthusiastically to the news via a video link. “I want to say that I would love to be a mayor for all Utrecht residents. I can’t wait to meet not only the council members, but also all the residents of the city.”
27 candidates applied for vacancy
Utrecht residents could think along about the qualities they consider important to the new mayor. This showed that they have a preference for a young woman who is involved with Utrecht and who has experience with management. There were eleven hundred responses to the call.
It was announced in mid-September that 27 candidates had applied for the vacancy. The King’s Commissioner in the province of Utrecht, Hans Oosters, has conducted job interviews with several candidates in recent weeks.
A selection of these candidates was then discussed with the so-called confidentiality committee of the municipal council, which also spoke with the potential mayors. On Tuesday evening, the Confidentiality Committee announced the first and second preferences, for whom the city council ultimately voted.
The Minister of the Interior will have another conversation with the new mayor, after which King Willem-Alexander will appoint her. Officially, the minister can still deviate from the recommendation of the Utrecht city council, but in practice this hardly ever happens.
Who the rejected candidate is has not been disclosed.
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