J.J.M. (Jos) Som (

Didam Didam (locally, Diem) is a town in the Netherlands in the eastern part of Netherlands in the region of "De Achterhoek", province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Montferland about 18 km east of Arnhem, which is the capital ...

, 12 October 1951) is a Dutch politician of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary ...

(CDA). Originally a teacher, he became an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

and deputy Mayor of

. From 1994 until 1999 he was mayor of

Gulpen Gulpen (; li, Gullepe ) is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is approximately midway between the Dutch city of Maastricht and the German city of Aachen. Gulpen was a separate municipality until 1999, when it merged with Wittem. The ...

, and from 1997 he was also acting mayor for the neighbouring municipality of

Wittem Wittem (, ) is a small village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Gulpen-Wittem. History The village was first mentioned in 1125 as Witham, and means "means silted land in a bend in a waterway". Wittem develo ...

. On 1 January 1999 these municipalities fused into the new municipality of

Gulpen-Wittem Gulpen-Wittem (; li, Gullepe-Wittem ) is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands (in the province of Limburg) with inhabitants as of . Gulpen-Wittem came into being after the merger of the municipalities Gulpen and Wittem. This took plac ...

, of which he was mayor until the end of 2000. On 16 December 2000 he became mayor of

Kerkrade Kerkrade ( Ripuarian: ; li, Kirkraoj; german: Kerkrade or ''Kirchrath'') is a town and a municipality in the southeast of Limburg; the southernmost province of the Netherlands. It forms part of the Parkstad Limburg agglomeration. Kerkrade is the ...

, succeeding Thijs Wöltgens. He was reaffirmed in 2006 and 2012. In 2018 he became acting mayor until he was succeeded by Petra Dassen-Housen.

Incidents

In 2013 he got into the public view due to visiting a French vacation home of project developer Piet van Pol in 2003, who also developed the city centre of Kerkrade. Piet van Pol came into question earlier due to taking bribes from

Roermond Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Roer ...

alderman Jos van Rey. Som states that he was on a local camping when a friend asked him to come to the vacation home. He did not know van Pol personally.

Honours

* 2003 - ''Sjwatse Kater'', a prize for special efforts for Kerkrade * 2007 - Knight's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

(Verdienstkreuz am Bande), for his efforts in international cooperation between Germany and The Netherlands.''Hoge Duitse onderscheidingen voor Nederlandse burgemeesters''
burgemeesters.nl, 17 October 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Som, Jos 1951 births Living people Aldermen in Gelderland Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Mayors in Limburg (Netherlands) Mayors of Kerkrade People from Montferland Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Incidents

Honours

See also

References