Ton Raven

A.C.M. Raven (born 3 November 1957) is a Dutch politician, who has been serving as a member of the Senate since 2021. In that body, he is the only member of the Independent Senate Group. Before he became a senator, Raven had been active in Sittard-Geleen (and earlier Geleen) politics as a municipal councilor and alderman since 1990, representing the local parties Stadspartij Burgerbelangen Geleen and Stadspartij.

Ton Raven
Member of the Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 January 2021
Preceded by	Gerben Gerbrandy
Alderman in Sittard-Geleen
In office 19 February 2020 – 19 January 2021
In office 2001–2002
Alderman in Geleen
In office 1994–2000
Member of the Sittard-Geleen municipal council
In office 2002–2020
In office 2001–2002
Member of the Geleen municipal council
In office 1990–2000
Personal details
Born	A.C.M. Raven 3 November 1957 Geleen, Netherlands
Political party	Independent Senate Group
Other political affiliations	Stadspartij Burgerbelangen Geleen (1990–2010) Stadspartij (2010–2021) Party New Limburg (2011) Volkspartij Limburg (2015)

Education and non-political career

He attended a mavo high school and studied business administration at hbo level, earning an SPD-I degree.[1][2] He also served as the chair of an Oud-Geleen youth association and as a neighborhood representative.[1] Raven had a financial job at the municipality Sittard between 1980 and 1988, and he subsequently worked as part of the management of Sportstichting Sittard until he became an alderman in 1994.[2] Besides, he was co-founder and chair of local broadcaster Streekomroep START, that was founded in 1985. He left that organization when he became a municipal councilor in 1990.[1] Between his resignation from the municipal executive in 2002 and 2020, Raven ran a number of businesses in IT and sustainable energy.[2] He also hosted radio shows on the local stations Euregio Radio and Bie Os in the years 2015–20.[1][3]

Furthermore, Raven chaired the foundation of the Vlug en Lenig women's team for fifteen years and also coached the team.[1] The foundation filed for bankruptcy in 2009 after the team was demoted, and the women's team subsequently continued without support of the foundation.[4] Raven also chaired the local elderly organization KBO St. Augustinus and coached a futsal team.[1]

Politics

Geleen and Sittard-Geleen

He first became involved in local politics in his municipality Geleen when he participated in the 1986 election. He was not elected, and was again on the ballot in the next municipal election four years later. He won a seat in the Geleen municipal council as a member of the local party Stadspartij Burgerbelangen Geleen (City party citizen's interests Geleen).[1] After the 1994 election, he also became alderman of finances, environment, and transport in Geleen's municipal executive and remained in that position for two terms.[2]

In 2001, Geleen merged with the municipalities Sittard and Born to form Sittard-Geleen. A special election was held to determine the members of its municipal council. Raven was the lijsttrekker of Stadspartij Burgerbelangen Geleen and was elected. He again became an alderman.[5] His portfolio was transport, businesses, events, and social affairs.[2] Raven resigned in May 2002 after receiving a motion of no confidence, that was supported by 21 out of 36 council members.[6] Two weeks earlier, he had been celebrating handball club Vlug en Lenig winning the national championship at a bar until the police stopped the party after several complaints at around 5 AM. According to eyewitnesses, a drunken Raven resisted the removal of the approximately fifty partygoers the most and called the police officers names. He initially refused to resign and denied the allegations, saying that he had not been drunk and that there had been a misunderstanding; the barkeeper had allegedly told him that the party could continue until 7 AM.[7][8] Raven became a municipal councilor after his resignation.[9]

He ran for re-election in the 2006 election, becoming the only councilor of his party.[10] Raven's party and the Stadspartij Sittard-Geleen-Born announced in 2009 that they would merge and would continue under the name Stadspartij (City party).[11] This occurred almost a year after Raven had announced that he was thinking about joining the party Trots op Nederland because of his ambition to become a national politician.[12][13] He was re-elected in 2010 and ran for member of the States of Limburg in the 2011 provincial election as the third candidate of the Party New Limburg, but was not elected due to the party winning no seats.[14]

Raven was again re-elected to the Sittard-Geleen municipal council in the 2014 election, being placed second on the Stadspartij's party list.[15] He subsequently became the party's caucus leader, succeeding lijsttrekker Fred den Rooijen, who vacated that position due to his party not becoming part of the municipal executive.[16] Shortly thereafter – in May 2014 – Raven wrongfully accused Mayor Sjraar Cox of being biased towards his party during the formation of the new executive. Despite Raven's apologies, all three other Stadspartij councilors left the party.[17] In 2015, he again participated in the provincial election in Limburg, appearing 14th on the list of Volkspartij Limburg. Raven stated that he sympathized with its prominent member Jos van Rey, who was being investigated for corruption.[18]

He remained a member of the Sittard-Geleen council and caucus leader after the 2018 municipal election. During the campaign, Raven had proposed starting a regional cooperation with nearby Belgian and German towns in order to be eligible for subsidies from the European Union.[19] Between September 2018 and January 2019, he went on sick leave due to a cerebral infarction, and his duties were performed by a substitute.[20] Raven left the council to become alderman of finances, businesses, sport, and mobility in February 2020, when a new coalition was formed. The prior coalition had lost its majority due to a departure.[21][22]

Senate (2021–present)

Raven ran for senator in the 2019 Senate election, appearing second on the party list of the Independent Senate Group, a cooperation of regional parties. He was not elected as his party won one seat. In January 2021, Senator Gerben Gerbrandy left the body due to the workload of serving in a one-man caucus, leading to the appointment of Raven as his replacement.[23] Being the only member of his caucus, Raven is a member of nearly every Senate committee.[24]

Personal life

He has a wife called Petra, and he has grandchildren. Since 2011, Raven has been a baritone at the men's choir Mignon and a drummer at the local marksmen's club Marcellinus en Petrus.[1] In 2013, he won the latter association's Schützenfest and thus became its king that year.[25]

References

1. Schmidt, Erwin (31 October 2014). "Ik ben geen extreme politicus" [I am not an extreme politician]. Limburgs Dagblad (in Dutch). p. 6.
2. "A.C.M. (Ton) Raven". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Parlementair Documentatie Centrum. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
3. Schmidt, Erwin; Schellen, Laurens (7 March 2020). "Effe Pitsje" [A short drink]. Dagblad de Limburger (in Dutch). p. 8.
4. "V&L-stichting tophandbal failliet verklaard" [V&L foundation declared bankrupt]. Dagblad de Limburger (in Dutch). 12 August 2009. p. 6.
5. "Lokale partijen winnen Limburgse raadsverkiezingen" [Local parties win Limburg council elections]. Reformatorisch Dagblad (in Dutch). 23 November 2000. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
6. "Sittard-Geleen wil niet verder met wethouder" [Sittard-Geleen does not want to continue with alderman]. De Volkskrant (in Dutch). 31 May 2002. p. 3.
7. "Incident met politie breekt wethouder op" [Incident involving police makes alderman leave]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 1 June 2002. p. 3.
8. "Was de wethouder nou stomdronken of niet?" [Was the alderman drunk or not?]. De Volkskrant (in Dutch). 25 May 2002. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
9. "Raven stapt op als wethouder Sittard" [Raven resigns as Sittard alderman]. Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). 1 June 2002. p. 2.
10. "Gemeenteraad 7 maart 2006" [Municipal council 7 March 2006]. Databank Verkiezingsuitslagen (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
11. Schellen, Laurens (7 December 2009). "Stadspartijen fuseren" [City parties merge]. Limburgs Dagblad (in Dutch). p. 1.
12. "Ton Raven meldt zich aan bij partij Rita Verdonk" [Ton Raven applies at Rita Verdonk's party]. Limburgs Dagblad (in Dutch). 23 January 2009. p. 1.
13. Schmidt, Erwin (12 January 2020). "Trots op Nederland is toch iedereen?" [Isn't everyone proud of the Netherlands?]. Dagblad de Limburger (in Dutch). p. 2.
14. "Karel Wolff trekt provinciale lijst PNL" [Karel Wolff lijsttrekker PNL in the province]. Limburgs Dagblad (in Dutch). 29 November 2010. p. 10.
15. "Gemeenteraadsverkiezingen 2014" [2014 municipal elections]. Limburgs Dagblad (in Dutch). 21 March 2014. p. 2.
16. "Wisseling wacht Stadspartij" [Changing of the guard at Stadspartij]. Limburgs Dagblad (in Dutch). 2 May 2014. p. 10.
17. "Raadsleden Stadspartij stappen op" [Councilors Stadspartij resign]. Limburgs Dagblad (in Dutch). 21 May 2014. p. 2.
18. "'Je suis Jos' uit Sittard-Geleen op lijst partij 'Van Rey'" ['Je suis Jos' from Sittard-Geleen on party list 'Van Rey']. 1limburg (in Dutch). 31 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
19. Schellen, Laurens (4 November 2017). "Stadspartij: Euregiostad in plaats van herindeling" [Stadspartij: Euregion instead of reorganization]. Limburgs Dagblad (in Dutch). p. 6.
20. Schmidt, Erwin (13 December 2018). "Raadsleden keren na ziekteverlof terug" [Councilors return after sick leave]. De Limburger (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 January 2021.
21. Schellen, Laurens (19 February 2020). "Pikante stoelendans in politieke arena Sittard-Geleen" [Spicy musical chairs in Sittard-Geleen political arena]. De Limburger (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 January 2021.
22. "Wethouder Ton Raven" [Alderman Ton Raven]. Gemeente Sittard-Geleen (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 18 January 2021 – via Google Search.
23. "Ton Raven geïnstalleerd als Eerste Kamerlid OSF" [Ton Raven installed as senator OSF]. Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). 19 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
24. "Lidmaatschappen A.C.M. Raven" [Memberships A.C.M. Raven]. Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 January 2021.
25. "Ton Raven nieuwe schutterskoning" [Ton Raven new Schützenkönig]. Limburgs Dagblad (in Dutch). 15 May 2013. p. 4.