Draft:Nico Schoof

Nicolaas Petrus Maria "Nico" Schoof (born 10 February 1947) is a retired Dutch politician for Democrats 66. He was the mayor of four Dutch municipalities, notably Heiloo (1989–1997) and Alphen aan den Rijn (1997–2008).

Early career
Schoof has worked for several municipalities, including 's-Hertogenbosch.

Mayor of four municipalities
In 1982 he was appointed Mayor of Akersloot, remaining in office until 1989. In addition, he served as the acting mayor of Limmen from March 1985. As Mayor of Akersloot, Schoot was chairman of the so-called the Schoof Committee that investigated a possible municipal reorganization of sections of North Holland.

Schoof was appointed mayor of Heiloo in 1989. From February 1997 until his early retirement in 2008, Schoof was mayor of Alphen aan den Rijn.

Post-mayoral activities
At the beginning of 2009, he became chairman of the Schiphol Airport Regional Consultation Committee (CROS) and in the same period he was appointed as an informant to investigate how the nine municipalities in the north of North Holland could achieve sustainable administrative cooperation.

In November 2012, he was asked to lead a committee investigating the widening of the A27 freeway near Utrecht. The expansion of the 'Amelisweerd basin' had met with a lot of resistance in politics and among action groups. Minister Schultz van Haegen wanted to widen the motorway to twice seven lanes. This requires cutting down 15 meters of forest on both sides of the road. The Schoof Committee investigated the need for this expansion.

In August 2015, Schoof became the chairman of the support fund for the direct victims of the crane incident at the Queen Juliana Bridge in Alphen aan den Rijn. In 2017–18, he led the relief in Sint Maarten for Hurricane Irma. Schoof was a commissioner at UVIT and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Woonstichting STEK in Lisse. He also worked as an expert for VNG-International in various countries.

Family
Nico Schoof was raised in a Roman-Catholic family with 7 children. Dick Schoof, the current Prime Minister of the Netherlands, is a younger brother of Nico Schoof.