Muntendam
Muntendam is a town in the Dutch province of Groningen, municipality Menterwolde.
Until 1990 it was a separate municipality, which boasted the title 'reddest municipality in the Netherlands', with a council of 11 containing 7 PvdA members and 2 CPN members.. When a new mayor had to be appointed in 1980, it was assumed that it would become a PvdA mayor as it had always been. However, the then minister of the interior, Hans Wiegel of the right-wing VVD, decided that this very left-wing part of the Netherlands needed a change and appointed a D66 mayor. This led to a cold reception and the first time a Dutch mayor was not officially inaugurated. Over time, however, people started to like him and when he moved to a bigger municipality there was even an action to keep him. Not much later, the method of appointing a mayor in the Netherlands was changed, with the municipality putting up a request which is usually followed.
