Rob van Gijzel (born 29 June 1954 in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He is a former MP and was

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Eindhoven between 8 April 2008 and 13 September 2016. When Van Gijzel was a

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...

, he became an active member of the

Jonge Socialisten The Young Socialists in the PvdA ( nl, Jonge Socialisten in de PvdA, JS) is a Dutch social-democratic youth organisation. The JS is a politically independent organisation, but is affiliated with the Labour Party (PvdA). Members must be between 12 ...

. He served as that organization's chairman in the period 1979-1982. He was a candidate for parliament for the PvdA and was finally elected to parliament for that party in 1989, where he served as

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

spokesman on the subject of Verkeer & Waterstaat (

traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, an ...

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

and

water management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slightl ...

). Following the Bijlmer disaster he picked up the nickname ''Bijlmerboy'', due to his vociferous insistence on a full parliamentary inquiry into the aftereffects of the crash. After that inquiry, Van Gijzel was PvdA spokesperson in the debate on the findings of the parliamentary committee. In that function he joined

Rob Oudkerk Robert Herman (Rob) Oudkerk (born 20 March 1955 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch politician and general practitioner. Oudkerk was born in Amsterdam. He was the son of a Jewish butcher and a nurse. His grandfather was David Cohen, who was President of th ...

(who was on the committee) in voting for a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

health minister A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Count ...

Els Borst Else "Els" Borst-Eilers (; 22 March 1932 – 8 February 2014) was a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party and physician. She was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 21 December 2012. Borst worked as a medical researcher ...

. He was also the only PvdA representative to vote against the motion of

Ad Melkert Adrianus Petrus Wilhelmus "Ad" Melkert (; born 12 February 1956) is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the Labour Party (PvdA) who has served as a Member of the Council of State since 20 January 2016. Melkert studied Political science at the U ...

, calling on the government to ''learn the lessons of the failings in the handling of the Bijlmer disaster''. On 9 November 2001 Rob van Gijzel was a guest on the television program Zembla, in an episode regarding the building industry fraud. The program revealed that a

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...

of the largest

building contractor A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

s in The Netherlands had been defrauding the

ministry of public works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

, the

Nederlandse Spoorwegen Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS; ; en, "Dutch Railways") is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The Dutch rail network is one of the busiest in the European Union, and the ...

and

Schiphol Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...

for years; the total damage was between 500 million and one billion

guilders Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empir ...

. Van Gijzel referred to this in the program as "the largest fraud in the history of The Netherlands". Van Gijzel also commented on the building fraud in the television program NOVA on the same day. The leader of the PvdA in parliament, Ad Melkert, was not happy about the way Van Gijzel openly commented on the affair and immediately replaced Van Gijzel as spokesman for the building fraud and ordered Van Gijzel to run all future commentary on the affair by him (Melkert) first. Van Gijzel felt this made him a "muzzled parliamentarian" (Dutch: ''een parlementariër met een slot op de mond''), making it impossible for him to execute his office as an elected representative. On 27 November he left parliament, giving as reason that he was given too little leeway to function properly. Van Gijzel also stated that Melkert feared that he (Van Gijzel) was too hungry for political consequences in the building fraud affair and that Van Gijzel felt that the PvdA caucus was protecting the responsible ministers too much. In the fraud affair, Van Gijzel had often and openly opposed PvdA Minister

Tineke Netelenbos Tine "Tineke" Netelenbos-Koomen (born 15 February 1944) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and businesswoman. Netelenbos attended a Lyceum in Amsterdam from May 1960 until June 1966. Netelenbos worked as a civics teacher ...

of public works and Benk Korthals of justice.Rob van Gijzel stapt op
, NOVA, November 27, 2001 Despite Van Gijzel resigning, a parliamentary inquiry into the affair was started in August 2002. After having been considered for 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 ...

post, Van Gijzel was a candidate for mayor of Eindhoven in 2003. He lost out to

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberalRudy Andeweg, Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingsto ...

candidate Alexander Sakkers though. After losing the mayoral race, he started a political advisory agency called Politea, together with his wife Irene van Rijsewijk. After the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

he became deputy chairman of the National Swimming Institute Eindhoven. In December 2007 Van Gijzel once again ran for mayor of Eindhoven. The citizens of Eindhoven were allowed to vote in an advisory

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on 23 January 2008, with a choice between Van Gijzel and fellow PvdA party member

Leen Verbeek Leendert "Leen" Verbeek (born 5 March 1954) is a Dutch politician serving as the King's Commissioner of Flevoland since 2008. A member of the Labour Party (PvdA), he previously served as Mayor of Purmerend from 2003 to 2008. Verbeek spent his ...

. Van Gijzel received 68.5% of the vote, although the referendum was invalid due to a turnout of less than 30%. This left the advisory decision with the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, which stuck with the outcome of the referendum and recommended Van Gijzel (with 25 out of 43 vote). The

Minister of Internal Affairs Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

followed the recommendation and Van Gijzel was installed as mayor on 7 April, succeeding interim mayor

Gerrit Braks Gerardus Johannes Maria "Gerrit" Braks (23 May 1933 – 12 July 2017) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and agronomist. Braks applied at the Wageningen Agr ...

. On 21 November 2008 a conference was held in

Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km ...

on inner-city problems with

marihuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

. Speaking for 33 mayors, Van Gijzel announced that Eindhoven was going to start a city nursery to supply the soft drug to city

coffee shops A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

. In addition to being a member of several local and regional boards, Van Gijzel is chairman of the ICF Foundation (New York), since 2013.

References

*
Parlement.com biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gijzel, Rob Van 1954 births Living people 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch politicians Intelligent Community Forum Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Mayors of Eindhoven Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) People from Eindhoven