Amsterdam. Frank and Free are all about you

The city government of Amsterdam thinks that you simply are not able to pull it of. That you don’t know what’s best for you and that you certainly don’t know what’s best for your surroundings. In short: you are doomed to fail from the start.

That’s why the local government decides for you. By endlessly imposing regulations, procedures and permits they try to exercise control over what happens, how it happens, and where it happens. If you are still "stubborn" and take matters into your own hands, the city government will try to control and harass you until you think: never mind.

Are you happy with your house and garden and want to add a conservatory or garden shed? If you were a resident of The Hague that wouldn’t have been a problem but because you are living in Amsterdam you can forget about it. Do you wan to send your children to a good local school of your own choice? Prepare yourself for a waiting list and subsequent lottery. Are you running a hotel or restaurant and want to offer your guests a comfortable place outside to smoke a cigarette? Impossible. Heated outside terraces during winter? Certainly not. Having a drink while standing outside? No way! You want to start a shop or a company? Are you sure you are in the possession of all the permits? Looking for a museum that isn't closed? Renting out your second home without letting the city decide for you what maintenance you must perform, what rent you should ask or which tenants you should choose? Not in Amsterdam.

The city meddles in everything. They try to regulate every detail. Because they think they know better, because they do not trust their own citizens, therefore they do not trust you. Desire fore regulations, instinct to control and inability to delegate are the biggest problems of the City of the Amsterdam.

‘Topstad Amsterdam’ is an empty shell. The municipality decides for you when you can drink your beer and when you should go home. Against all regulations the Amsterdam short-stay rental market has been turned around - Amsterdam is the only city in the world to do so.  Instead of confirming to regulations Amsterdam wipes its feet with them. Across the globe great projects see the light. Entire cities are being built while in Amsterdam the Zuidas is dropping off quietly since investors are pulling out due to the demands that the City of Amsterdam makes. IJBurg II -with its numerous family residences- has been delayed because the land prices are too high. The land prices are kept artificially high because social housing, of which Amsterdam already has a surplus, needs to be subsidised.

What applies for one person doesn’t apply for the other. For instance: confetti during the Amsterdam Gay Pride isn’t allowed but during the Amsterdam Marathon uncountable kilos of the stuff are being propelled into the air. We all are equal but some of us are more equal than others. As an enterprising citizen, you simply cannot count on having law and order on your side; instead you can be sure of arbitrary decision-making and cronyism.

Amsterdam is brimming with ambition. But the impulse for regulation, the instinct to control, and the inability to delegate, ruins every ambition. Meanwhile, the key tasks of the local government namely: safety, infrastructure and safeguarding liveability are poorly executed. The city lies open everywhere, is dirty in many places and in some areas the lack of safety is not contested but tolerated. If you turn to the government then your complaints aren’t even heard let alone solved. In short; you are steered from pillar to post.

The municipality should put trust in its citizens. This also means putting trust in you and in the fact that you know what’s best for you, your city and your surroundings. You alone are aware of which decisions need to be made in order to move forward.

On March 3, 2010 you decide what is good for your city, for Our Amsterdam.

Vote VVD - I am the candidate in spot number 8: Frank van Dalen.