Proud of Fortune – VG

Over the past year, the mayor of Tromsø has branded himself as a clear voice for Northern Norway during the crown pandemic. The wealthy businessman was elected mayor in 2019. He has also been controversial and criticized for mixing his own interests with his role as mayor.

When VG met him in Tromsø, he already managed to create more headlines in the last week, demanding even stricter rules for domestic travel in Norway.

– I have been asked to reintroduce the “Søring quarantine”, but the municipal superior will not do so. I keep asking people from highly infected areas not to come to Tromsø, unless absolutely necessary.

– At the same time, I wonder why the government is not considering ordering, for example, Viken not to leave the area at Easter. Alternatively, you should bring a new negative corona test to travel to areas with little infection.

– Can you imagine quite similar rules for entry from Oslo than from abroad?

– Yes. Just look at Air France, where you can’t travel without a new corona test. There should be stricter rules for internal travel in Norway than currently exist.

He wants power over the tapping towers

The mayor believes that the people of Tromsø have shown that it is possible to reduce outbreaks.

– I had a stomach ache when we had an outbreak in a nursing home. It was scary and went beyond the abdominal muscles. At the same time, so far in Tromsø we have managed to quell all the outbreaks that we have had. This is because people are kept at a distance and quarantined when necessary.

The mayor is also desperate for the national bar, which he believes affects both nightlife and the restaurant industry. He wants municipalities to control when the taps will be turned on and off.

– With such general rules that the government has introduced, they do not take into account the various local conditions. Today, 10,000 chefs have lost their jobs or been laid off. Then the government allows some cafes and restaurants to stay open, but it won’t be the same without a glass of wine for a five-course meal.

Proud of fortune

Like party leader Jonas Gahr Støre, Gunnar Wilhelmsen has great personal fortune. He is a real estate developer and owns several central properties in the center of Tromsø. According to the latest available tax lists, he had a fortune of more than 66 million crowns. Furthermore, he is a co-owner of the former Olavsvern military submarine base, and thus is probably the only mayor of Norway with access to his own personal submarine base.

– How can you combine great personal wealth with being a top shop steward in a party that represents workers?

– I pay my taxes with welfare. I have worked and accumulated my own fortune, I am proud of that. And I have always dedicated my time to people who have not been given a foothold in life, even before I became mayor.

– Støre is often challenged for his fortune before parliamentary elections. And, unlike him, he has won an election as the first candidate. Do you have any advice for him?

– I cannot afford Støre, apart from saying that it is possible to join the Labor Party and have made money. My values ​​are completely in line with APS values, and that is what matters.

Settled with culture in the Labor Party

After Easter, Wilhelmsen will participate in the national digital meeting of Ap. At the previous national meeting, in 2019, he spoke out against the fall of the party and the struggle for power.

– I think there has been too much factionalism in the Labor Party. Where you put yourself in front of the party. It has not been good.

– Do you have any examples?

– No, I do not have. But I think it seems more harmonious now.

– So there will not be a new agreement with culture in the Labor Party at this national meeting?

– No, it won’t. If I get the floor, and it is not entirely sure, I will talk about two things: the Northern Norway line and housing reform.

Wilhelmsen believes that the Labor Party has become much more positive about the Northern Norway line and highlights in particular the efforts of the late LO leader Hans-Christian Gabrielsen, who supported the demand for a railway to Northern Norway.

– In addition, housing is important. There is a big difference between those who can afford their own housing and those who have to rent municipal housing, says Wilhelmsen, who has accumulated great personal wealth as a property developer.

Criticized for fairness

The mayor has been criticized by the opposition for mixing personal interests and the mayor’s work. Among other things, he apologized to the presidency this fall after a “meeting that did not go well”, where he criticized the municipal leadership of the Labor Party during an internal meeting, for having voted no to the Arctic Center, a ski resort where and his brother are investors. Consequently, the mayor was incompetent in handling the case.

Dagens Næringsliv has also mentioned how the mayor met with the government in a meeting about the arrival of nuclear submarines in Tromsø, at the same time that he had interests in the case.

– Is it a challenge to be the main union delegate of the municipality and, at the same time, to have so many interests and economic ties?

– We have dealt with 700 cases in the municipal council, and only in three of them have I become incompetent. So this is not a problem. I do not agree with those who have problematized this.

Taus om “Kuken”

VG has previously mentioned Wilhelmsen’s involvement in “Gutteklubben Kuken”, a children’s club made up of two former Labor mayors and a current Tromsø mayor, as well as people from the business sector and the press.

The mayor says, very clearly, that he does not want to answer any questions about “Kuken”, as the club is popularly known in Tromsø.

– How are you doing with “Gutteklubben Kuken”?

– No comment. This was not agreed in advance. If I had known you were going to ask about “El Gallo”, I would have said to take all questions in writing, the mayor tells VG.

Collaboration with the MDGs

While the Støre party leader has closed the door to government cooperation with the MDGs, the Labor Party cooperates with the MDGs in addition to SV and the Center Party in Tromsø.

– We work well together, and we have worked well on an urban growth package with the state, he says, and he refers to an agreement that will provide state money for public transportation and transportation development, at the same time that tolls will be introduced in the municipality.

– Can you recommend the party leader, Jonas Gahr Støre, to cooperate with the MDGs?

– I have no idea. I have good experiences of collaborating with the MDGs in Tromsø, but who Jonas wants to collaborate with as prime minister is a privilege for him, says Wilhelmsen.