alderman

Tjeerd Herrema resigned as PvdA alderman in Almere on Thursday after being accused of sexual harassment. An external investigation is ongoing into these accusations, but Herrema decided not to await the outcome of this investigation, NOS reports.

PvdA alderman Jeroen Brandes of Amstelveen resigned on Friday after it was revealed that he sent sexual messages to a 16-year-old girl, Amstelveen mayor Bas Eenhoorn said in a letter sent to the town council on Tuesday, Het Parool reports.

Brandes, 48, resigned due to "compelling personal reasons" on Friday - just two days after being re-elected to the Amstelveen town council. Now the letter from mayor Eenhoorn reveals that it was because of messages Brandes sent to a now adult young woman who was 16 at the time. 

Around one in five aldermen were forced to step down during the past term. This often happened due to political reasons, but a considerable group had to leave due to some kind of scandal. Nearly 16 percent of the local politicians who stepped down this past term, did so due to misconduct and integrity problems, Trouw reports based on figures from the CollegeTafel.

The Rotterdam court acquitted former CDA alderman in Gorinchem Eeuwit K. of having sex with a 16-year-old girl. The Public Prosecutor, who demanded 1.5 years in prison against the 31-year-old man, is appealing, the Telegraaf reports.

Utrecht is the first city in the Netherlands to start integrating asylum seekers into society from their first day in the city. The city wants to put an end to the current practice of asylum applicants being moved about and integration starting late. "When you arrive in Utrecht, you stay in Utrecht", GroenLinks alderman Kees Diepeveen said to the Volkskrant. "This creates peace. For school-age children, being dragged around is very dramatic."

The waiting lists and waiting times for social housing in Amsterdam will only get longer, according to professor Peter Boelhouwer and emeritus professor Hugo Priemus, both at TU Delft.

Youth Alderman Simone Kukenheim is very concerned about the revelations made by the VARA program Rambam about the Amsterdam Church of Scientology. "If the media reports are correct, I find it very disturbing", the alderman said to AT5.

The Rotterdam municipality has no right to its own treasures at the World Museum. Rotterdam did not properly control the municipal collection.

The concept for the new Schiedam logo has caused quite a fuss among local politicians. The recently presented concept is supposed to be a windmill blade, but looks a bit like a swastika.

The NAC stadium in Breda may be unsafe due to cracks in the grandstand's concrete, De Telegraaf reports based on a report by engineering firm ABT.

The number of wild bee species increased by twenty percent in Amsterdam between 2000 and 2014, city alderman Abdeluheb Choho said in a release on Thursday. The different species rose from 51 to 61, which is a good indicator of the ecological wealth of the city, Amsterdam claimed.