According to the Constitution the municipality has independent authorisation to arrange its own domestic affairs and it is obliged to perform statutory tasks. The latter is known as co-governance.
The division of tasks and authorities in the municipality is laid down in the Municipalities Act. This act stipulates that the daily management is in the hands of the municipal executive. I am the secretary of the municipal executive and in charge of the official system.
The democratic control of the municipal executive rests in the hands of the municipal council, which represents the public interests and the main lines of municipal policy. The municipal council is assisted by a registrar.
I do not have the impression that the residents of our or any other municipality are concerned about the constitutional organisation of the municipality and the authorisations of the public officials. They perceive the importance of the municipality in the first place in terms of the work that has to be done by the local authorities. They are more concerned about whether their passports are issued on time and whether the municipal parks and gardens are maintained to a sufficiently high standard, and give rather less attention to whether the role of the municipality within the Constitution is correct.
Residents can, in effect, afford to be more involved in specific matters. I think that the division of tasks between the municipalities, provinces and the state is quite transparent and that it contains adequate democratic guarantees.
Bij de foto: Ruud Goeman, Municipal Secretary of the Municipality of Het Bildt, Friesland, 10.950 residents. Eighty public officials work in this municipality.
brochure van het Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties
