Enschede plays library and museum against each other

Everything comes together in Enschede. Revenue models that appear to be based on air, but are defended to the hilt by administrators. Jubilant reports on rising museum visits, but smaller museums are going under. Aldermen acting out of cultural interests, but then playing residents against each other to make draconian decisions. All this to disguise the ruins of Rutte I.

A quick recap: on the day EO circus The Passion settled in Enschede, the orchestra based in that city announced that it would be forced to scrap performances, CD recordings and, if extra money did not come soon, educational projects. The cancellation of those recordings and performances is now a fact, at the most unfortunate moment imaginable, as theatres in Zwolle and Deventer were confronted with this announcement shortly after the printing of the new season brochures. Consequence: gaps in programming, brochure immediately out of date - you would file a claim for damages for less.

Questions

Time for questions. First came Labour Party spokesman Jacques Monasch. He explained in very suggestive questions mostly blamed Rutte I, not a word about failing policies of the orchestra itself. ChristenUnie-Statenlid Abbema was on hand and asked specifically: why did we as a province pay out millions to HET Orkest? After all, that pretty much promised to do without any provincial subsidy by now, didn't it?

Both are still waiting for answers.

It took a little longer for Enschede's municipal politicians to wake up too, but with some delay they were asked by Barry Overink of the Burgerbelangen Enschede group, addressed to VVD alderman Jeroen Hatenboer, not entirely coincidentally a coalition partner.

It can quickly

Box: 15 April.

Outbox: 20 April.

The questions are about the provided bike loft loan. Did the councillor know about financial problems back then?

Answer: no.

Second question: When was the councillor informed of the financial shortfalls?

Answer: There are no financial shortfalls.

A remarkable answer, because if there are no deficits, why does the orchestra partly stop its core mission, for which it receives subsidies from the state and province?

The councillor gives this answer, it appears later, based on the 2013 financial statements. It is now 2015. Not only could he have already seen from the 2013 financial statements that a remarkable amount of money was being drawn from general reserves, his subsequent argument actually just admits that things have only got worse since then.

'The transformation from the old business model to the new entrepreneurial model - which started after the major government cuts in 2013 - is not progressing as fast at the orchestra as was aimed for. The reason is that contributions from the private sector, including the sponsorship market, are smaller than expected. Instead, the orchestra - as an act of good entrepreneurship - is now adjusting its activities itself to avoid deficits in the future.'

So, once again, a VVD leader has to admit that the Giving Act and 'getting money out of the market yourself' have failed, but where PvdA MP Monasch blames the crisis and Rutte I, Hatenboer says it is mainly a matter of time and once again throws out the VVD doom about 'good entrepreneurship'. In short, the trees are still growing to the sky, albeit with some delay.

HET Orkest has since renounced the loan, but the councillor remains steadfast in defending his earlier decision to provide the orchestra with a loan, as adequate office accommodation is necessary even in the future. That that future is highly uncertain and the office expansion was based on growth, not shrinkage, he ignores. Just as he very conveniently states that limiting the number of concerts has no further consequences, because those consequences are patently there, if only for the PR of HET Orkest and thus city and region.

Image problem and FC Twente

The city's PR is doing lousy anyway. The showcase, of city and region, besides the enterprising university, is of course the local football club. Led by businessman Joop Munsterman, it grew into a club that won a national title, expanded its stadium substantially and spoke of international ambition.

Trees, international air.

That stadium did require a 20 million loan from the municipality. And although the Grolsch Veste is often crowded, all those expensive purchases with ditto salaries brought the club to a financial and sporting low. Football association KNVB punished the club with six points deduction for very creative accounting, and after Munsterman was forced to leave, one corpse after another fell from the closet.

In January this year, it reported BDO Accountants at the request of the board of mayor and aldermen 'The municipality of Enschede does not yet have to worry about the million-dollar loan outstanding from the financially ailing FC Twente football club. Nevertheless, vigilance is called for, as the Twente club is struggling financially.' But: 'The invoices for interest and repayment have been paid to date in accordance with the concluded agreement.'

College happy. Although it would have done well to read further, because then we learn that "repayment of the remaining EUR 17 million is not a certainty" because "it remains to be seen whether FC Twente will be able to generate sufficient income from player sales in the coming years.

A simple football law teaches that poor performances on the pitch are disastrous for the market value of your players and soon FC Twente's financial problems became big, very big.

Activities to be scrapped. The women's team will continue independently. The municipality reacts with shock, but immediately states that it is not all that bad, shoots the club to help and proudly announces that FC Twente will not have to repay for the next 18 months, only pay the interest.

Not a word about the fact that less than two years ago, FC Twente wanted to repay the loan at an accelerated rate, but was not allowed to do so by the municipality at the time, 'because of the relatively high interest rate Enschede receives on the loan granted to Twente'.

And then it became painful

Days after announcing support for the local FC and conveniently answering Overink's questions, Jeroen Hatenboer was once again in the spotlight. In addition to the three-tonne cut already agreed in 2013, the Enschede library must pay another seven tonnes hand in, in defiance of agreements made in 2013 that the library would be spared any further cuts. Library director Gerard Kocx obviously reacted furiously and immediately launched all kinds of campaigns, making explicit use of social media.

At the same time, the G9, in which the nine largest municipalities in the Netherlands including Enschede shape their cultural policy, released a report boasting of "more resources for young people".

Those resources are obviously not in the library, but in FC Twente, because the municipality of Enschede has no resources. Certainly not for culture. It houses one of our country's best youth theatre companies, Sonnevanck, the Nederlandse Reisopera, Rijksmuseum Twente and HET Symfonieorkest, all in the basic infrastructure. It also has an alderman who is eager to join the conversation, but meanwhile has to cut one and a half million from culture. And no matter how loudly as a municipality you shout that FC Twente has nothing to do with culture cuts, you make it painfully clear where the priorities lie.

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In all the fuss about seven tonnes less for the library and nine tonnes delayed repayment of FC Twente, it snowballed that Hatenboer wants to cut one and a half million. Six tonnes of that will most likely come from the beloved museum Twentse Welle.

Enter Citizens' Interest, which again responded immediately to the coalition partner's plans, this time through group chairman Van den Burg. He is deeply concerned about the possible additional cuts at the library.

Dualism in municipal politics, fine. But Van den Burg immediately let slip that the six tonnes less for Twentse Welle is not a problem: 'It is nice to have such a museum within the municipal boundaries, but it is not as necessary as a library.'

Since by now all other parties are also highly critical, the sequel can be filled in: after a heated council meeting in which emotions ran high, the extra cut on the library is softened, the huge cut on the museum is pushed through and have VVD and local partner in crime wiped out another cultural institution. Mission accomplished.

And in a few months' time, the councillor will come up with a proposal to give HET Orkest bridging loans in order to create peace of mind until the final subsidy decision from the minister and Culture Council is there.