Fourth Theme debate: Body cams, yearly neighborhood survey and building code inspectors

My fourth theme debate on behalf of GroenLinks in the city council of Zwolle was a theme debate on municipal services and resident engagement. I was responsible for all subjects: (in Dutch):

  • Beantwoording art. 45 vragen GroenLinks over Huttendorp Aalanden
  • Publicatie Buurt-voor-Buurt Onderzoek 2022
  • Vergunningen, Toezicht en Handhaving Omgevingsrecht jaarverslag 2022 & programma 2023
  • Inzet bodycams gemeente Zwolle
  • Zwolse participatieaanpak

Since talk time was limited to six minutes per political party, off course choices had to be made on what to talk about. You can watch the debate (in Dutch) below, or read my statement (in English) below the video.

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Motion passed: the inevitable end of consumer fireworks in Zwolle, be it a bit late

As announced during the Third Theme debate, PvdD together with GL, D66 and a number of other parties would draft a motion to work towards banning consumer fireworks in Zwolle. Because the mayor asked for a broadly supported motion to guide him during the redrafting of the multi-year policy on fireworks almost all parties involved had to compromise. GL wanted a local ban to be implemented during the next turn of the year (23-24), but other parties wanted more time to develop alternatives with residents and with some additional steps in between. This is what all parties involved settled on:

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Art. 45 questions: Possible problems with passports?

The first formal questions (called art. 45 questions) I asked on behalf of GroenLinks, together with CDA are about possible problems with identification documents in Zwolle. One of my colleagues got questions from citizens about their passports. These citizens were told by the border guards that their passports (supplied by the municipality of Zwolle) did not meet quality standards and that the municipality should not have approved them. This together with an Article on NOS.nl and a letter from Secretary of State Van Huffelen prompted the following questions.

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