The Honorable Kurt D. Dykstra
Office of the Mayor
Holland City Hall
270 South River Avenue
Kurt D. Dykstra has been a member of the City Council since 2005. He represented Holland’s fifth ward until November 2009 when he was elected as Holland’s 40th Mayor.
As Mayor, Kurt is the chief elected official in the City of Holland and one of nine members of the City Council. Kurt also serves on the Holland Planning Commission, Elections Commission, and was the chairperson of the City Manager Search Committee. Additionally, Kurt is the city’s representative to the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council and West Michigan Airport Authority. In the past, he has served as the Council's representative to the International Relations Commission, the Leisure and Cultural Services Commission, and the Housing Board of Appeals.
Kurt was born and raised in the small town of Oostburg, Wisconsin – a place, like Holland, settled predominantly by Dutch immigrants and nestled near the shores of Lake Michigan. He then attended Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, graduating magna cum laude. Thereafter he attended the Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee where he graduated first in his class and served as the editor in chief of the Marquette Law Review.
He is a Senior Vice President and the Holland Community President of Mercantile Bank. Previously, he practiced law at a large Grand Rapids-based law firm. Prior to moving to Holland in 2002, Kurt practiced law in a large, downtown Milwaukee law firm and served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Ann Walsh Bradley of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
He is a graduate of Leadership Holland, formerly served as a member of the Wisconsin Board of Bar Examiners, as the secretary to the board of directors at Community Action House, on the public policy subcommittee of the Holland Area Chamber of Commerce, and as a member of the building committee for Western Theological Seminary's Friendship House project. He also is an instructor in the departments of Political Science and Economics, Management and Accounting at Hope College, a Director at the Netherland-America Foundation, a Trustee at Northwestern College, a Director on the West Michigan Strategic Alliance, on the Excutive Board of the West Michigan Global Initiatives, and a member of Dutch Heritage Coordinating Council. He is a member of the Pillar Church and has served on the Reformed Church in America's Holland Classis Overtures and Judicial Business committee.
Kurt and his wife, Leah, have two young daughters: Juliana is a student at Holland High School and Emma-Elisabeth attends Holland Christian Schools. Leah is an Assistant Director of Admissions at Hope College and serves on the Pillar Church council and the Holland Symphony Board of Directors.
Keep up to date with Kurt on his Twitter feed: @kurtdykstra.