PvdA advisor unhappy with physical reunion: ‘Not salable at a time when staying home is the norm’

Last night, a private meeting was already scheduled which cannot take place digitally. Council members were already scheduled to meet, which made it a logical choice for four parties (VVD, CDA, SGP / CU and GroenLinks) to simply hold the city council meeting. The other four groups (PvdA, Nieuw Goes, D66 and PvG) preferred digital, so Mayor Margo Mulder had to choose between physical or digital.

Since a new councilor had to be sworn in and there was a lawyer, she opted for a physical council meeting with only 13 of the 25 councilors. Each group was allowed to delegate one member, plus one or more members for large parties.

Wiert Omta disagrees with the decision, as it prevented him and other board members from attending. “If you have just a certain topic in your portfolio, then such a meeting will run differently,” he said in the radio program Zeeland wakes up. “Look, I understand that the private meeting had to be done physically, because that’s the way the rules are.

According to the mayor, yesterday’s choice was one-off and there was no additional risk of infections. “We were already together, but next time we will meet again digitally, as we have been doing for months.”