by Marcel Beijer
AS JUNIOR mayor of the Dutch city of Almere, Havana was supposed to perform mainly ceremonial tasks: cutting ribbons, being present, smiling nicely. But the 10-year-old had other ideas about her role, a year and a half ago. She made a difference and thinks a junior mayor would also be good for cities in the US. Only Gaithersburg, Maryland, a Washington DC suburb, is known to have a junior mayor.
More and more towns in the Netherlands have a junior mayor who stands up for the interests of children. Havana (now 11 years old) made quite an impression. She didn’t want to just show up ceremoniously, so she set up school visits to hear what was on the minds of her peers. She got to hear sometimes intense things there. Children told her of their concerns: the climate, loitering teens, and even stabbings they had seen on their own street.
“It was actually good to hear those problems, because as junior mayor I could convey those concerns to the city council. Yes, what I heard was sometimes intense. But I got very good guidance from the city council.”
Havana has a connection to the United States. Her mother is American. She thinks cities in America would also benefit from a junior mayor. “A junior mayor shows that children also have a voice, and can also share their thoughts about the economy and politics. That would also apply to America. Some children have more life experience than an adult.”
She may in the future become politically active herself, Havana says. She already has a dream for the future, too. “I think criminal law is something for me. Maybe I could become a judge.”
The young Almere resident looks back fondly on her time as junior mayor. “I think later I will say, ‘how lucky I was to ever get to do this,'” she says.
* Marcel Beijer is a journalist in Almere and winner of the Dutch News Magazine Journalism Prize 2023.
Foto: Fred Rotgans
