No further investigation into the state of affairs regarding the Scherpenzeel merger issue

There will be no further investigation into the state of affairs surrounding the reclassification of Scherpenzeel desired by the province of Gelderland and the resignation of acting mayor Eppie Klein of that municipality. A motion by the PVV did not receive a majority in the Provincial Council last night during an emergency debate on the issue, writes Broadcasting Gelderland.

Five parties wanted such a State investigation – a provincial parliamentary inquiry – because it remains unclear what exactly happened, said and e-mailed.

Fusieruzia

Outgoing Interior Minister Ollongren withdrew last week pulled the plug on the forced reclassification of Scherpenzeel-Barneveld, which had been discussed for years within the province. According to Ollongren, there was insufficient support for the merger and Scherpenzeel itself can still stand on its own two feet. Within Scherpenzeel there was a lot of resistance to the reclassification.

After the final conclusion of the merger, the King’s Commissioner John Berends fired acting mayor Eppie Klein van Scherpenzeel on the same day. Within the village there is a feeling that Klein, who was also against the merger, has been fired because of Berends’ annoyance with the role Klein played in the matter.

Berends emphatically denied this in the debate. “An image is created, in this case by the former office holder, as if it is something between the undersigned and himself,” he said. “There is absolutely no question of that. It is about administrative functioning of the acting mayor in this case and not about personal relationships.”

Berends said he had previously informed Ollongren of Klein’s proposed resignation, which he said was “not trustworthy and not open”. Klein denied those allegations. Berends did not even think about reversing the resignation, even though a petition to get Klein back in office had been signed almost 2000 times in Scherpenzeel.

In conversation with Ollongren

The States still criticized Ollongren’s decision, which is said to be unclearly motivated. By ignoring the Gelderland reclassification decision, the minister of the provinces made a “toothless tiger”, according to the VVD.

A motion to enter into discussions with Ollongren to find out what this decision means for future similar cases was therefore passed.

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