page_title: College van burgemeester en wethouders
section_title: Composition and appointment
hierarchical_section_title: College van burgemeester en wethouders / Composition and appointment
caption_attribution_description: English: Frank Koen mayor Capelle aan den IJssel Nederlands: Frank Koen Burgemeester Capelle aan den IJssel
context_page_description: The college van burgemeester en wethouders is the executive board of a municipality in the Netherlands. This local government body plays a central role in municipal politics in the Netherlands. It consists of the mayor and the members of the municipal executive. Belgium has a similar system, which is referred to as the college van burgemeester en schepenen in the Dutch language.
context_section_description: The mayor (burgemeester) of a municipality is ex officio the chair of the municipality's executive board. He or she has the casting vote in the event of a tie. Apart from this, however, the mayor is at the same level as the other members of the executive board.
  The municipal secretary (gemeentesecretaris), who is chosen by the executive board, is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the executive board and assists with administrative and support matters.
  After every municipal election, the wethouders are elected to the executive by the members of the municipal council. Wethouders hold office at the pleasure of the city council. The city council can remove someone from the office by way of a non-confidence motion (motie van wantrouwen).
  Usually the municipal council elects sitting members of the council to the executive board, but it is also possible for them to elect someone from outside the council. When a member of the council becomes a "wethouder" they must resign their seat on the council, which is then filled by the next person on the party list.
  According to the Municipality Act (Gemeentewet), the number of wethouders cannot exceed 20% of the number of members of the municipal council (rounded up), but there must be at least two. In Dutch municipalities with 18,000 inhabitants or less, the office of wethouder is a part-time one. In larger municipalities the office is a full-time position, but the municipal council can choose to designate one or more wethouder positions as part-time positions, in which case the number of wethouders can go up to 25% of the number of municipal council members.
  Prior to the 2002 'dualist' reform (see the Dutch version of this entry), wethouders could only be delegated from among the town council and thus had to be residents. Since the 2002 reform, any town council members appointed wethouder have to resign, but nonmembers and even nonresidents (e.g., technical professionals) can be appointed wethouders.
caption: A Dutch mayor (Frank Koen, Municipality of Capelle aan den IJssel, 2010)
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