Hester

What do you encounter in your work: what is difficult and what makes it fun?

Right now, the financial situation of all municipalities in the Netherlands is difficult because a ravin year is coming up in 2026. This also means that choices have to be made. Less pleasant, but necessary. That too is part of my job. What makes it incredibly fun is all the topics that come along. We can do something for residents who are at a disadvantage. Whether that is in the area of education, culture or sports or health. We also try to make sure as little changes as possible for them, despite having fewer resources. 

Can you name something that makes your work special and tell something about it?

What makes my work special is that it serves the public interest. Because I studied public administration, I made a conscious decision not to work for a consulting firm but to work for a government organization. The municipality is very nice because you know for whom you are doing it and you also see the results immediately. This is different at other levels of government. The people within my unit are all very driven to work for the residents of Wassenaar and they like to go the extra mile. That is why, in addition to the regular work, we also have great projects such as growing up in a promising environment, the commitment to the healthy and active living agreement and the resources integral care agreement and, for example, the COA reception in Duinrell or the reception of Ukrainian refugees. The Wassenaar Social Team is also a nice development because we want to bring Health more forward. By being there in time, we prevent worse. Customization is therefore often not necessary. We can use the existing, collective facilities to help our residents.  

Why did you choose the municipality of Wassenaar, what do you like about it? And what makes the work diverse and challenging?

I chose the municipality of Wassenaar because of its organizational structure. I believe in a flat organization where employees are given responsibility or in other words I believe in self-organization. You don't get there overnight so that's a journey. To support the municipality and the employees in that, that's what I like very much.

I have various management tasks. Now, for example, I am working on the annual plan. This will state what legal matters we must prepare for as a unit. There have to be new regulations for the Social Support Act and the Youth Act. As well as new policy rules. In the annual plan we also look at what issues the aldermen would like to see realized in 2026. I also look to see if other units within the organization are working on issues that affect us. Here we need our legal and financial department but also often the information & data management unit or the support unit. So a lot of coordination. And meanwhile, the range of tasks must remain manageable for all my employees in the time we have. Quite a challenge!  

If you were to recommend working at Wassenaar Municipality to new colleagues what would you name as pluses?

The organization is not that big so you quickly know a lot of people and you know who to turn to for anything. It is a beautiful municipality with not always the easiest inhabitants but that is also a challenge. It is a nice municipality with a nice center, beautiful nature and beach and a variety of inhabitants.