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11/1 Jurists want to stay in Oudemanhuispoort

8/2 Mayor’s portrait

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6/2 Zuideramstel opens new office on Sabbath

5/2 The truth about integration

4/2 Wilders has little support on Amsterdam

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31/1 Wooden rowing boats to disappear from Amstel

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27/1 A few were still coughing, but that was an act

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24/1 Action groups call for Carmel and Jaffa boycott

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20/1 Cleaners welcome new Schiphol director

18/1 Palestine at the Jewish Historical Museum

18/1 What is the right size for a district?

17/1 PvdA Oost against fewer districts

16/1 Committee: 7 districts by 2010

15/1 Soldiers may attend Afghanistan debate after all

15/1 Bait bike leads to arrest

14/1 Youth for Christ to republish vacancies

13/1 Paintings of the Zuidas

13/1 New Youth for Christ contoversy

11/1 Social cohesion initiative raises eyebrows

10/1 Fewer districts in 2010

10/1 Zuidas: People feel that we are losers

9/1 Fun on the ice - but not for all

9/1 Supermarket coupon fraud thwarted

9/1 I Amsterdam must remain exclusive

8/1 Use term Apartheid in every discussion

8/1 No city kiosk in Amsterdam yet

7/1 Snow

7/1 Fatima Elatik to run Zeeburg

7/1 Municipal managers to return to shop floor

4/1 Police: take photo of strange people

3/1 Gaza protest criticises politicians

1/1 Thousands to protest against attacks on Gaza

1/1 Mustapha Laboui leaves district council

 

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‘More council members voted despite conflict of interests’

30 January 2008 - Council members in seven districts have voted on proposals to award subsidies to organisations they were themselves involved in. This is the conclusion of a survey among 143 district council members carried out by students of the Vrije Universiteit (VU).

The study, an assignment for an Ethics of Administration seminar, has not been formally published. The data have been collected in November and December 2007.

Twenty-six respondents said they had ties with organisations that receive subsidies and eight said they have voted on a proposal to award a subsidy to an organisation they are involved with. This occurred in Westerpark, Noord, Bos en Lommer, Zuidoost, Zuideramstel, Slotervaart and Osdorp. Further, 13 council members said they had participated in discussions about such decisions.

In June last year, the Accounting Office published a report finding that three Zuidoost Council members had been involved in conflicts of interest involving personal gain. The PvdA expelled the members from the district council party group. The party also commissioned a second opinion from BING. On the basis of that report, the three council members have been reinstated.

Members of the Zuidoost PvdA have argued that it was unfair that criticism focused on their district (with its high proportion of black residents), claiming that abuses are not worse in Zuidoost than elsewhere. The findings of the VU students seem to lend some support to that claim.

During the next weeks, various studies on the topic will be published. In the February issue of Openbaar Bestuur, Professor J.H.J. van den Heuvel will publish an article on subsidies awarded by district councils. By the end of February or early March, the municipal Integrity Office will publish a report on how subsidies are awarded.

Later this week, News from Amsterdam will publish the findings of a survey among district council members on issues including the role of the Accounting Office.

 

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