Amsterdam Ombudsman receives help from colleagues from other major cities in conflict with mayor

The ombudsmen of The Hague, Rotterdam, and Utrecht are coming to the aid of their counterpart in Amsterdam in his conflict with Mayor Femke Halsema. They call it "an unprecedented precedent" that the city council, with the mayor's approval, decided on Thursday to launch an external investigation into an investigation by the Amsterdam Ombudsman, which the mayor had initially criticized very negatively.

The investigation could “undermine the independence and foundation of countervailing power,” the three ombudsmen wrote in their letter, dated Monday, November 10.

Amsterdam Metropolitan Area Ombudsman Munish Ramlal published a report last Thursday on the municipal Integrity Office. For this investigation, he reviewed reports from 82 Amsterdam civil servants about this department.

One of his conclusions: "The procedure for social integrity reports leads to a loss of trust in the municipality." Ramlal's recommendations included establishing an external Integrity Committee and allowing complaints about socially undesirable behavior to be handled by external experts.

Extremely damaging

Mayor Halsema said Thursday at a council committee meeting that she considers the investigation flawed. She cited a letter she had previously sent to the council presidium, in which she wrote that she has "doubts about future cooperation" with the ombudsman.

The Amsterdam Ombudsman also sent a response to the events to the city council on Monday. In it, he expressed his concerns about the intention to have his report reviewed by an external expert. "I find this particularly damaging to the institution of the ombudsman and its independence," said Ramlal. He is asking the council to appoint a mediator who can improve the "difficult" relationship between him and the mayor.

The mayor sent the letter she wrote to the presidium a month ago to the entire city council on Monday. In it, she writes about "major concerns about the ombudsman's performance" following his investigation into "the performance and positioning of the Integrity Office" and the report, which was only a draft at the time.

An appendix was added to the letter, dated October 9th. It outlines several "patterns" in the Ombudsman's Office's working methods, which, according to City Hall, include the "appearance of bias" of investigators, the "thwarting of judicial processes and first-line complaint handling," and an "unclear and incomprehensible investigative methodology."

The ombudsmen of the three other major cities write in their letter that they are concerned that the actions of the Amsterdam city council and the municipal council "could set a precedent, also in other cities" and that "investigations of investigations" could lead to the "actual problems behind complaints being lost from view."