Rick Van Dorp takes the oath of office to serve as the city of Zeeland’s 21st mayor Monday night. City Clerk Kristi DeVerney administers the oath to the new mayor.
By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
Growing up in Zeeland, Rick Van Dorp recalled spending Sunday afternoons having dinner at the Central Avenue home of his grandmother, Evie Van Dorp.
“We’d go there every Sunday after church and have dinner and there’d be aunts and uncles and parents, and we’d sit around and talk about this kind of stuff. They’d talk about foundations and downtown and city stuff,” Rick Van Dorp said.
Evie’s husband and Rick’s grandfather, Richard Van Dorp, was a prominent figure in Zeeland civic life in the 1950s and 1960s, serving as president of the Board of Education for the New Groningen School District (which later became part of Zeeland Public Schools) as well as city treasurer and city assessor. He also ran for the City Council once but did not get enough votes to be elected.
While Rick never got to meet his grandfather – Richard Van Dorp died in 1971, six years before Rick was born – he credits his grandmother for inspiring him to become involved in civic affairs.
“She took me on different trips. That was always an interest of hers. She was very civic-minded,” he said.
On Monday night, Richard Van Dorp III took the oath of office to become the 21st mayor in Zeeland’s history. He served on the City Council for 21 years before running unopposed for the city’s top elected office last month.
Van Dorp, 48, follows in the footsteps of the two longest-serving mayors in Zeeland’s history, Les Hoogland (1989-2011) and Kevin Klynstra (2011-2025).
A 1995 graduate of Zeeland High School, Van Dorp earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Davenport College (before it became a university). He has spent the majority of his working career at Michigan Westshore Nursery, a company that both his grandfather and father, also named Richard, served as general managers for. He also served for three years on the staff of Bill Huizenga when he was a state representative.
Van Dorp is expected to hit the ground running with a number of major issues and projects to address in his first days as mayor. He considers the Reckitt/Mead Johnson expansion project, which has gone through a rezoning process but has not yet reached the site plan review stage, to be a top priority.
“That has a lot of work yet to go, to get that finalized, to make sure everything’s going to fit in well. That has to be a big focus,” Van Dorp said.
“On top of that you have JR Automation, with a major investment (in its new headquarters on the city’s east side). We’re doing a lot of work with those two industries to make sure everything goes as smooth as possible.”
Van Dorp would also like to see the city address some of the recommendations of the Washington Avenue corridor study that the City Council endorsed in January. Among the recommendations of the report include improving landscaping along Washington and making the corridor more pedestrian-friendly.
Van Dorp is looking forward to the council’s annual goal-setting session that will come up next month. It was out of this year’s goal-setting exercise that the idea was first proposed to legalize the sale of alcohol on Sundays, a measure that gained final approval from the council Nov. 17.
In addition to Van Dorp being sworn in as mayor, the three newest members of the City Council – Andrew Bult, Amy Langeland and Rebecca Perkins – took their oaths of office Monday night. Van Dorp is eager to see what input the new council members will bring.
“We’re going to have a totally different perspective with (new) people coming in … I’m anxious to see what they bring up,” Van Dorp said.
Van Dorp is married to his wife, Kerri, who is events coordinator for the city. The couple have three children, one in high school, one in middle school and one in elementary school.
“I just want to make sure we’re continuing to carry on the good governance that we’ve had for the last 30-some-odd years, and probably before that even,” Van Dorp said. “We’ve had great mayors and councils and a great team at City Hall and throughout the whole city. We seem to be moving forward in the right direction, in my mind, and I want to make sure that continues as we go forward.”
Zeeland Record
Growing up in Zeeland, Rick Van Dorp recalled spending Sunday afternoons having dinner at the Central Avenue home of his grandmother, Evie Van Dorp.
“We’d go there every Sunday after church and have dinner and there’d be aunts and uncles and parents, and we’d sit around and talk about this kind of stuff. They’d talk about foundations and downtown and city stuff,” Rick Van Dorp said.
Evie’s husband and Rick’s grandfather, Richard Van Dorp, was a prominent figure in Zeeland civic life in the 1950s and 1960s, serving as president of the Board of Education for the New Groningen School District (which later became part of Zeeland Public Schools) as well as city treasurer and city assessor. He also ran for the City Council once but did not get enough votes to be elected.
While Rick never got to meet his grandfather – Richard Van Dorp died in 1971, six years before Rick was born – he credits his grandmother for inspiring him to become involved in civic affairs.
“She took me on different trips. That was always an interest of hers. She was very civic-minded,” he said.
On Monday night, Richard Van Dorp III took the oath of office to become the 21st mayor in Zeeland’s history. He served on the City Council for 21 years before running unopposed for the city’s top elected office last month.
Van Dorp, 48, follows in the footsteps of the two longest-serving mayors in Zeeland’s history, Les Hoogland (1989-2011) and Kevin Klynstra (2011-2025).
A 1995 graduate of Zeeland High School, Van Dorp earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Davenport College (before it became a university). He has spent the majority of his working career at Michigan Westshore Nursery, a company that both his grandfather and father, also named Richard, served as general managers for. He also served for three years on the staff of Bill Huizenga when he was a state representative.
Van Dorp is expected to hit the ground running with a number of major issues and projects to address in his first days as mayor. He considers the Reckitt/Mead Johnson expansion project, which has gone through a rezoning process but has not yet reached the site plan review stage, to be a top priority.
“That has a lot of work yet to go, to get that finalized, to make sure everything’s going to fit in well. That has to be a big focus,” Van Dorp said.
“On top of that you have JR Automation, with a major investment (in its new headquarters on the city’s east side). We’re doing a lot of work with those two industries to make sure everything goes as smooth as possible.”
Van Dorp would also like to see the city address some of the recommendations of the Washington Avenue corridor study that the City Council endorsed in January. Among the recommendations of the report include improving landscaping along Washington and making the corridor more pedestrian-friendly.
Van Dorp is looking forward to the council’s annual goal-setting session that will come up next month. It was out of this year’s goal-setting exercise that the idea was first proposed to legalize the sale of alcohol on Sundays, a measure that gained final approval from the council Nov. 17.
In addition to Van Dorp being sworn in as mayor, the three newest members of the City Council – Andrew Bult, Amy Langeland and Rebecca Perkins – took their oaths of office Monday night. Van Dorp is eager to see what input the new council members will bring.
“We’re going to have a totally different perspective with (new) people coming in … I’m anxious to see what they bring up,” Van Dorp said.
Van Dorp is married to his wife, Kerri, who is events coordinator for the city. The couple have three children, one in high school, one in middle school and one in elementary school.
“I just want to make sure we’re continuing to carry on the good governance that we’ve had for the last 30-some-odd years, and probably before that even,” Van Dorp said. “We’ve had great mayors and councils and a great team at City Hall and throughout the whole city. We seem to be moving forward in the right direction, in my mind, and I want to make sure that continues as we go forward.”
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
https://www.legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
