Job Cohen

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Job Cohen
25th Mayor of Amsterdam
In office 2001 – present
Preceded by	Schelto Patijn
State Secretary for Migration
In office 1998 – 2001
Preceded by	Elizabeth Schmitz
Succeeded by	Ella Kalsbeek
Born	18 October 1947 (1947-10-18) (age 60) Haarlem Netherlands
Political party	Labour Party
Residence	Amsterdam
Religion	Jewish

Marius Job Cohen (born 18 October 1947) is the current mayor of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. Before becoming mayor in 2001, he had served as State Secretary of Education and Justice and as member of the upper house of parliament, the Eerste Kamer.

Cohen joined the Netherlands Labour Party (PvdA) on 1 September 1967, and over the years has filled numerous administrative positions in the party. In 2003 he was the party's candidate for prime minister but was narrowly defeated.

Contents 1 Family and education 2 Academic career 3 State Secretary 4 Mayor of Amsterdam 5 World Mayor 2006 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Family and education

Cohen was born in Haarlem to A.E. Cohen and Hetty Coster, who were members of the local liberal Jewish community. Cohen attended the Stedelijk Gymnasium Haarlem from 1960 to 1966, and obtained his law degree from the University of Groningen in 1971.

On 2 June 1972 he married in Groningen.

[edit] Academic career

Between 1 September 1971 and 1 September 1981, Job Cohen held a scientific position at the Bureau Research of Education at Leiden University. He obtained a doctorate from this university in June 1981.

On 1 September 1981 he joined Maastricht University in a higher scientific capacity, and was chairman of the commission that prepared the establishment of a faculty of law.

On 1 September 1983 Cohen became professor of methods and techniques at the faculty of law; on 1 January 1991 he also became rector magnificus.

[edit] State Secretary

On 2 July 1993 he became State Secretary (Deputy Minister) of Education in the third cabinet of Ruud Lubbers. The term of this post expired after a year and Cohen returned to his post in Maastricht. However he remained as a member of the Eerste Kamer of parliament (the Upper House).

Cohen began a sabbatical year on 1 January 1998, but in February took on the function of interim-director of the broadcasting organization VPRO, lasting until 15 August. On 13 August he resigned from the Eerste Kamer to take the position of State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice in the second cabinet of Wim Kok, dealing chiefly with immigration. In this capacity he was responsible for a new immigration law, intended to restrict entry of refugees to "genuine cases".

[edit] Mayor of Amsterdam

He resigned his position as State Secretary on 31 December 2000 in order to take up the position of Mayor of Amsterdam on 15 January 2001.

At midnight on April 1, 2001, Cohen became the first public official to wed same-sex couples, following the passing of legislation opening up marriage to people of the same gender (see Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands).^[1]

On 26 November 2002 Cohen gave the Cleveringa lecture in the Great Auditorium of the University of Leiden.

Cohen was the Labour Party's candidate for prime minister in the Dutch general election, 2003, after the leader of the PvdA's campaign, Wouter Bos, said he wouldn't take a cabinet position if his party won. But the PvdA was narrowly defeated and Cohen remained the mayor of Amsterdam.

In November 2004, controversial film maker Theo van Gogh was killed in Amsterdam by a Muslim extremist. Time awarded Cohen the title "European Hero" in 2005, for his inclusive approach towards the Muslim community after the murder, defusing tension in the city.^[2]

On January 27, 2006 Cohen announced he would be willing to serve a second term as mayor of Amsterdam. On July 12, 2006 the municipality of Amsterdam almost unanimously (D66 opposed, being in favour of an elected mayor) supported Cohen to prolong his career as a mayor after January 15, 2007 when his first term ends. The Queen's Commissioner H.C.J.L. Borghouts of North Holland will now have to offer this advice to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Cohen's politics towards ethnic minorities in Amsterdam is characterized by the slogan "keeping things together" (de boel bij elkaar houden). On 2 May 2006 Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk of the centre-right VVD accused Amsterdam of becoming a "banana republic", with a lax safety policy: she cited the criminal liquidations and the disturbance caused by young people as examples of this. In the yearly crime meter of the Algemeen Dagblad Amsterdam did not perform particularly badly in safety policy and crime fighting, one of the reasons for this is Cohen's targeted approach towards those who commit multiple crimes (veelplegers). Cohen stated that his policy which combines soft and hard approaches, fighting crime and fighting the causes of crime, was the key to his successful safety policy.

In late 2007, Cohen moved to reduce prostitution in Amsterdam, following allegations that Hells Angels and other organized criminals had taken over the prostitution industry. The city council bought 18 buildings in the red light district De Wallen from Charlie Geerts in order to convert them into upscale establishments and revoked the license of the luxury brothel Yab Yum.^[3]

[edit] World Mayor 2006

Main article: World Mayor

In 2006 the World Mayor organization determined Cohen to be runner-up in the award for World Mayor of 2006, behind Melbourne mayor John So, and ahead of Harrisburg mayor Stephen R. Reed. World Mayor praised Cohen's leadership following the murder of Theo van Gogh in 2004, and his efforts at bringing together the diverse population of Amsterdam.^[4][5]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Job Cohen at Amsterdam.nl (Dutch)
• CityMayors profile
• "Pimping ban in Amsterdam?" by Eric Hesen, Radio Netherlands Worldwide (website), September 21, 2007.

Political offices
Preceded by Schelto Patijn	Mayor of Amsterdam 2001 – present	Incumbent