The Dutch Council of Ministers has chosen the new Kingdom Representant for the BES-islands

De heer G.P. (Gilbert) Isabella will be the new Kingdom Representant (“Rijksvertegenwoordiger”) for the BES-islands and will start the 1st of September 2014. Mr Isabella (53) is member of the Socialist Party PvdA and was Commissioner in Utrecht.

4 juli 2014 – 17:44

“Benoeming Rijksvertegenwoordiger voor de openbare lichamen Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba

De heer G.P. (Gilbert) Isabella wordt de nieuwe Rijksvertegenwoordiger BES (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba). De ministerraad heeft op voorstel van minister Plasterk van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties besloten hem voor te dragen voor benoeming. De benoeming gaat in op 1 september 2014.
 
De heer Isabella (53) is lid van PvdA. Daarvoor was hij wethouder in Utrecht. Hij volgt dhr. W.J. Stolte op, die met ingang van 1 mei 2014 ontslag heeft genomen. Op dit moment is dhr. J.C. Woodley waarnemend Rijksvertegenwoordiger.”

 

Profile of Mr. Gilbert Isabella

After graduating from the Academy of Socials Studies, Mr. Gilbert Isabella studied pedagogics (did not graduate) at the University of Utrecht.

Through the youth care assistance at The Police in Utrecht he joined the municipal field. For more than 9 years he has advised the Council of Mayors and councilor (municipal council members) of the city of Utrecht about various policy areas ranging from social care, integration, labour market policy, substance abuse treatment & diversity, economic affairs and employment and income.  He then focused on the theme of reintegration at the UWV and consulting firm KPMG. He returned to the municipal practice in the city of Dordrecht as a programme director Antilles Policy. For this, he maintained contact with the National Government and the Government of the Netherlands Antilles. The last three years as a councilor, he worked as a Program Manager urban economy at Nicis Institute, the knowledge center for the city of The Hague.

Since 2006, Mr. Isabella became active in the municipal council of Utrecht. From November 2011 until May 2014, he was the councilor (wethouder) for Spatial Planning, Housing, Leidsche Rijn, Real Estate, Land Use, Building the City and district councilor for neighborhoods Vleuten-De Meern and West. He is currently a council member / faction leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) in the city council of Utrecht.

Mr. Isabella is unmarried, has a partner and two stepdaughters.