Clash Between Mayor Halsema and the Ombudsman over Integrity Policy Has only Losers

NRC Handelsblad

Lean Left

Factuality

Ownership

On Thursday, the Amsterdam City Council will once again discuss the Ombudsman's report on the working methods of the Amsterdam Integrity Bureau. What is expected of the council meeting, which will be attended jointly by the mayor and the ombudsman for the first time?

AT5

Factuality

Ownership

The debate about the ombudsman's report on the municipal Integrity Office has taken on an extra dimension. This week, a letter from the researcher who conducted the investigation led by the ombudsman was leaked. She wrote, among other things, that Mayor Halsema acted "administratively incorrectly" and was threatening and intimidating during a meeting. A spokesperson for the mayor called the allegations "reprehensible" and considered them an inac…

nieuwrechts.nl

Factuality

Ownership

The dispute between Mayor Femke Halsema and Amsterdam Ombudsman Munish Ramlal has escalated further. Lead investigator Bernadette Verheggen is now breaking the silence. In a comprehensive analysis she sent to those involved this week, she states that Halsema put the ombudsman under severe pressure and that the report on the Integrity Bureau was significantly rewritten as a result of that pressure. The mayor denies this, De Telegraaf reports.

geenstijl.nl

Factuality

Ownership

Do you remember: Amsterdam ombudsman Munish Ramlal had written a critical report about the rotten working atmosphere at the Stopera and the completely failing Bureau Integriteit (Integrity Bureau), which is supposed to handle complaints about it. That critical report, however, never appeared. At least, not as it was initially supposed to be published; it was edited. Relevant sources spilled the beans to the newspaper T about how Halsema successf…