Student - March 8, 2010

Student makes it to town council after all

A student will be a member of the Wageningen town council. Peter Veldman takes over for Democrats66 from Froukje Pechtold who had said no to the seat.

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Pechtold, ranked eighteen on the list, won a seat in the Wageningen council with 237 votes, but has turned it down. Dennis Gudden, the regular number six on the list, is not allowed on the council. He has recently been appointed as commissioner of a housing development corporation in Rhenen which services the four municipalities in the valley region. To avoid a conflict of interests, he is not allowed to be on any of the four town councils.
Big following
This paves the way for student Peter Veldman to be moved up. Veldman has succeeded in bringing in 87 personal votes, the most number of votes after the first five candidates on the D66 candidate list. Party leader Michiel Uitdehaag is pleased that he can return a favour to the students in this way. He says that D66 has been very successful in these elections because of the big following of students. At the Haarweg voting station, the party obtained one third of the votes cast. For the first time since the seventies of the last century, a student will be on the Wageningen town council again, says Uitdehaag. 'We are extremely proud of this. It's a good way to improve the relationship between the big student population and the politicians in Wageningen.'
Participation
Veldman (23) is a member of student society Ceres. He had studied management studies in Rotterdam initially. 'But that was too theoretical for me.' He came to Wageningen to study management economics and consumer studies a few years ago. 'I have attended a number of party meetings. I really like it. People are enthusiastic about my input. I find that participation in politics is more suitable for me than poring over it in my studies.'