Meet Jelle Polman

Who are you?

My name is Jelle Polman. I’m 29 years old and live with my wife, Malou, in the beautiful village of Aalten. In my day job, I work as a business controller at a construction company. In addition to my work, I’m currently serving my second term as a council member for the CDA; 2026 will mark my^fifth year as a council member.

Why did you become a council member?

I became politically active about 6 years ago; it all started with a simple question: “Wouldn’t you, as a young person, like to contribute your ideas?” One thing led to another; the more I saw of the work involved in being a council member, the more enthusiastic I became (and continue to be). I’m naturally very curious and am quick to form an opinion or come up with ideas about what could be done better or differently. As a council member, I have the opportunity not only to have an opinion on things, but also to actually do something about them and to change and improve our municipality.

What topics do you find important?

Given my work as a Business Controller, I have a background in finance, so that naturally catches my attention. I find it a rewarding challenge to navigate the complex financial landscape of a municipality and ultimately pinpoint the right issues. In addition, I’m involved with the Spatial Planning portfolio (which includes housing, roads, and our rural areas); I find this interesting because the impact is very visible. You can see concrete results from the decisions that are made.

What do you hope to contribute to in the coming years?

Nationwide, opinions have been drifting further and further apart in recent years, and in politics, differences are particularly emphasized. Fortunately, this isn’t as much of an issue in our municipality, and I hope we can keep it that way. I think everyone understands that no one can always get exactly what they want 100% of the time. But it is important that everyone has had the opportunity to participate in the discussion beforehand and receives an explanation afterward regarding the decision that was made.

Personal

In the time I have left besides my full-time job and serving on the city council, I enjoy traveling (far and wide) with Malou; we also recently got a Museum Year Pass. That might sound a bit boring, but there are a surprising number of fun and interesting museums in the Netherlands! I also work out regularly at the gym, though I undo all that hard work on the weekends when I enjoy having a beer with friends. These days, I don’t stand at the bar in Leuven anymore—I sit at Schiller instead. After all, I’m almost 30...