Claire Vandevevere (Mayor List/CHR) will be the new Mayor of Getty City. She will likely succeed Mayor Hervey Doyen (CHR) in February. Doyen had previously announced that he would retire at the end of this year.
A few months ago, Mayor Hervey Doyen (CDH) announced that he would hand over the mayor’s office. He has been the chief devotee for more than twenty years.
Tonight there is still a vote, but it’s just a formality: Vandevevere is the only candidate for mayor. Benoit Jocelyn had previously been raised as a candidate, but withdrew. Vandevivere will likely succeed Doyen in February after all formalities.
Who is Claire Vandevevere?
Vandevivere (50) is currently a local council member for Civil Status, Equal Opportunity, Sustainable Development and the Environment. She has been living in Jet for over twenty years with her husband and two children.
Vandevivere studied International Relations and Law at UCLouvain, but has also studied abroad such as the United Kingdom and Luxembourg. The French-speaking also did European studies in Tilburg, where her Dutch received a modest boost. “That was one of the reasons why I went to study in Tilburg. In fact I spoke more English than Dutch, but I do my best to maintain my Dutch. I think this is very important in a bilingual municipality.”
inspiration
Vandevevere previously worked as a Parliamentary Assistant in the Federal and European Parliaments. However, she later opted for domestic politics. Vandevivere says: “During my studies and early in my career, I was particularly interested in European affairs. Later I met the Mayor’s List team. (cdH, CD&V and The Independents, editor) At Jette and I got started in local politics a year after the local elections. It was an instant revelation: I find connecting with the people and projects that you can achieve there so wonderful.”
What are the priorities of future mayor Jit? “For me, these are two things: social cohesion and poverty reduction. Society is polarized today. Look at the anti-movements, the Dutch-French, the religions…But Jette is a joyful society and it must remain that way.”
