René Roep (on the right) is a free spirit, who enjoys life.

A remarkable gathering of the town council in the Dutch city Vlissingen today. The subject of the evening is mayor René Roep (60), who made it a habbit to drink during working days and have the city pay for it. The ‘father of the town’ also had his sons and daughters pay for the decoration of his house. Probably the council wil demand that Roep steps down, but what’s wrong with drunk leaders? You never hear people complain about Winston Churchill right?

Actually let’s have a look at the case. The committee that investigated the behavior of Roep and his aldermen concluded that there was a ‘credit card culture’ in Vlissingen. The three credit cards of city hall were often used in fancy restaurant for business lunches. The receipts showed a serious amount of alcoholic beverages during these lunches. That many that the committee stated that it was “remarkable, since the city also had to be controlled in the afternoon.”

Roep also filled in declarations for the decoration of his house wordt of around 4.500 euro’s, which included a new bed. His altermen and he thought it would be best not to bother their staff with these declarations and authorized them for each other. Now we fully understand this (a town needs a well rested mayor, especially after all the hard work he did at lunch time), but we’re afraid the town council of Vlissingen might not and will demand Roep’s resignation. Now that would be a true loss for politics.

Micky Bumbar

UPDATE 16.43
Mayor Roep just gave a statement in which he said he resigns, although he feels he did nothing wrong. We expect he will make a career move. Possibly he will find a more suitable job as a whisky taster or a hobo in the park. Here’s to you buddy, cheers!