Hoorn alderman resigns over asylum seeker crisis shelter plans

VVD politician Marjon van der Ven will resign from her role as an alderman in the coalition leading the local government in Hoorn. She said she disagrees with the coalition's decision to move forward with plans to house several dozen asylum seekers in an emergency shelter, despite the full City Council vote to reject the proposal.

According to Van der Ven, the City Council had already rejected the proposal for the Johannes Poststraat in September. She said it was improper for the aldermen to push forward with the plans for housing 50 people. She said she finds it reprehensible that they did not resubmit that decision to the City Council.

Regardless, the coalition in charge announced Friday that a temporary emergency shelter intended for a maximum of 50 asylum seekers will be established in a former school building on Johannes Poststraat. Initially, this location was meant to hold 100 people, but Hoorn's aldermen and mayor acknowledged there was insufficient support for this.

The City Council itself stated that such a vote on a proposal for 50 asylum seekers housed in a crisis shelter would have failed, just as it did for twice the total. At the same time, there also was not a majority in favor of "stopping emergency shelter at the Johannes Poststraat location specifically, nor for stopping emergency shelter in general."

The full City Council is made up of 35 members from 15 different parties. Mayor Jan Nieuwenburg from the PvdA helms the cobbled together coalition making up the executive branch of the Noord-Holland municipality.

Until Monday, it included six aldermen from six different parties, GroenLinks, D66, CDA, Hoorn Lokaal, Fractie Breuker, and Van der Ven from the VVD.