Inspired by the world leader on radical transparency Audrey Tang (Minister of Digital Affairs in Taiwan) who records video’s of all her meetings and publishes them on the public web, I created this page.
On this page I try to give more transparency about my interests and possible conflicts of interest as a city council member in the city of Zwolle. Dutch Law only states that city council members need to declare ancillary positions, but the interpretation about what exactly needs to be reported varies from city to city. My personal page on the website of Zwolle states my ancillary positions but offers no extra information or context. For now this page supplements the pages on gifts and ancillary positions on the city’s website. But may well be expanded with a public version of my city council calendar or other things in the future.
If you are interested in the law governing this a Dutch version can be found here:
- Artikel 12 Gemeentewet voor Raadsleden (city council members)
- Artikel 41b Gemeentewet voor Wethouders (Alderman)
- Artikel 67 Gemeentewet voor Burgemeester (Mayor)
Gifts:
Of course accepting gifts as chosen representative in almost all cases is not a good idea. Current local rules and regulations state that all gifts above €50,00 in value automatically become property of the municipality and should be put in a public register. You can find the register for the city council of Zwolle here. The register for our Mayor and Alderman can be found here.
Since gifts with an estimated value lower then €50,00 are not registered anywhere I keep track of them here for the sake of transparency. This list does not include things like coffee or (simple) meals provided by the municipality or organizations when I visit them.
| Date: | Gift: | Received from: | Estimated Value: |
| 02-2023 | Ticket for De Nedersaksen – LIVE | première for the opening of “het Hanzejaar 2023” | Gemeente Zwolle (via email) | €19,50 |
| 12-2022 | Book: Ik zie, ik zie, wat zij niet zien – Dineke Hartman | Unknown (via snailmail) | unknown |
| 10-2022 | Book: Assendorp niet zomaar een Zwolse wijk – Herman Aarts | Vrienden van Assendorp/Bewonersbelang Deventerstraatweg (via snailmail) | €22,50 |