A coveted position
When Vincent Boetius ends his term as chairman(*) of the supervisory board of the Cadastre this month, his place will most likely be taken by Vromi-Minister Angel Meyers for a job that pays 2,500 guilders per month. At least, that is what we hear.
Not all is well at the Cadastre, where interim-director Marcia Peterson is still in charge.
Interestingly, so we learned from sources that know these things, Peterson seems to be close with Minister Meyers. Telecom records this newspaper obtained show how Peterson one day kept a phone conversation (on July 27, 2015) going for 5 hours, 11 minutes and 50 seconds. Our source says that the man on the other end of the line was Minister Meyers.
It is no secret that Peterson wants the job as Cadastre-director. Former director Clemens Roos knew about her ambitions, but his experience with her was not exactly stellar.
A video of which this newspaper obtained a copy shows how Peterson is snooping around in the office of her director, walking off with some papers.
Part of the management at the Cadastre is according to our source “someone who earlier appeared to be unfit for the job and had begged himself to get out.” The man in question “has no qualifications for management” or it must be his secondary technical school education in engineering and a basic course in geodesy he had trouble completing. “A weak man who is only in management for the additional benefits and who never wanted to take responsibility.”
A vacancy ad for the position of general director of the Cadastre appeared in the newspapers last year. The primary requirement for the functions is “at least an academic education geodesy and proven legal interest.”
In August of last year, MP Christophe Emmanuel campaigned for the appointment of Marcia Peterson to the position. He even provided her CV, claiming that Peterson was a good local candidate for the function.
Her CV told a different story: Peterson does not have an academic training in geodesy and for this reason alone she does not fit the profile. Yet she has been at the helm of the Cadastre in an interim-position ever since Roos left.
There have been other – and earlier – attempts to move candidates into the director’s chair as well. When he was the minister of Public Housing, Urban Planning, Environment and Infrastructure, current MP Maurice Lake put two names forward in a letter dated August 27, 2013 to Sandy Mourillon-Sandiford, at that time chair of the Cadastre’s supervisory board.
Lake proposed former notary Elco Rosario and Edwin Gumbs as candidates for the function of “change manager.” Like Peterson, they have no background in geodesy; Rosario writes on his CV “lawyer and former notary at law” while Gumbs is predominantly a qualified controller with training in financial administrative management.
Nothing ever came of these nominations, but the trend is clear. The post at the Cadastre is a coveted one. If Minister Meyers moves into the supervisory board, and if his ties with interim-director Peterson are indeed as close as they seem to be, her appointment to the top job seems to be a formality, because the supervisory board hires and fires the management.
That’s good for Peterson of course, but whether this is also good for the Cadastre and for all citizens who may be affected by it, is another matter altogether.
(*) Correction: While all information in this op-ed “hit the nail on the head”, there was one detail that is incorrect. Vincent Boetius is not the chairman of the supervisory board; he is the secretary. Today apologizes for the mistake.
