{"id":7316,"date":"2026-05-11T15:23:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T12:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.apeldoorn.nl\/bestuur-organisatie\/college-van-b-en-w\/collegeleden\/burgemeester-ton-heerts\/columns\/echt-nodig\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T14:31:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T12:31:04","slug":"echt-nodig","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.apeldoorn.nl\/en\/college-van-b-en-w\/collegeleden\/burgemeester-ton-heerts\/columns\/echt-nodig\/","title":{"rendered":"Really Necessary"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-acfblock=\"Tekst\" class=\"section a section--green-lighter e-tekst\">\r\n\t<div class=\"container\">\r\n\t\t<div class=\"row justify-content-center elementOnTop\">\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col article-content__content-custom-1220 editor elementOnTop\">\r\n<p>A few weeks ago, you received your polling card for the local council elections on 18 March. It included a note from me: an invitation to come and vote.<\/p>\n<p>As mayor, I am responsible for ensuring that the elections run smoothly \u2013 that they are well organised and that the count is conducted fairly. Of course, I don\u2019t do this myself; we employ highly professional staff for this purpose, who work on it all year round. But I am administratively responsible for the democratic process; that\u2019s how it works. I therefore know first-hand that your ballot paper is in the best of hands. Otherwise, I wouldn\u2019t dare urge you to go and vote!<\/p>\n<p>Last time, about half the people didn\u2019t vote. Much to my regret. I really hope that this time, lots of people in Apeldoorn will vote.<\/p>\n<p>I hope so, for a few reasons.<\/p>\n<p>The first is that non-voters are effectively saying: \u201dI don\u2019t care. You decide for me.\u201d But of course, there\u2019s a fairly good chance that decisions will then be made that you\u2019re not happy with. That you\u2019ll subsequently feel you haven\u2019t been heard. And that\u2019s not good for trust.<\/p>\n<p>The second reason why I think it\u2019s so important is that, as a society, we can only move forward if we do so together. Otherwise, it\u2019s not a society at all. And of course, there are other ways to get involved besides voting once every four years. But to run the local council effectively, and to make decisions that have broad support, we need everyone.<\/p>\n<p>So Apeldoorn needs everyone\u2019s vote. Including yours and yours. Really.<\/p>\n<p>Ton Heerts<\/p>\n\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n\t\t\t\t<div data-acfblock=\"Afbeeldingen-enkel\" class=\"section editor section--green-lighter\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row justify-content-center editor__wide-image elementOnTop\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"col-12 col-lg-10 editor__image-container\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<picture>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.apeldoorn.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ton-portret-nieuwer.jpg\" alt=\" \"\/>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/picture>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption>\r\nTon Heerts. Photo: Robin Fotografie\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\n\n<div data-acfblock=\"Lijstblok-type-1\" class=\"section section--green-lighter\">\r\n  <div class=\"container\">\r\n    <div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\r\n      <div class=\"col-12 col-lg-11 elementOnTop\">\r\n        <div class=\"editor__content-block editor__white-content-block\">\r\n<div class=\"editor\">\r\n<h2>Be sure to read the other columns too<\/h2>\r\n<p>Mayor Ton Heerts writes a regular column. Why not have a read?<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"button button--arrow-right\" href=\"\/college-van-b-en-w\/collegeleden\/burgemeester-ton-heerts\/columns-burgemeester\">Columns by the mayor<\/a><\/p>\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":5278,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"bestuur-standaard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","ep_exclude_from_search":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"folder":[],"class_list":["post-7316","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.1 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Column Echt Nodig | Gemeente Apeldoorn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lees de column &#039;Echt Nodig&#039; van burgemeester Ton Heerts van Apeldoorn. 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