What is "heemraad"

Heemraad \Heem"raad`\, n.; pl. -raaden. [Sometimes, incorrectly, Heemraat or even Heemrad.] [D. heem village + raad council, councilor.] In Holland, and, until the 19th century, also in Cape Colony, a council to assist a local magistrate in the government of rural districts; hence, also, a member of such a council.

A heemraad, or hoogheemraad (literally a high heemraad) is a local official of a Dutch water board. The term can be pluralized to (hoog)heemraden, but sometimes the word heemraad also means more than one man in the sense of a meeting of (hoog)heemraden, such as decisions made by the heemraad. In this sense, the college of heemraden ( college van dijkgraaf en heemraden, consisting of the dike-reeve ( dijkgraaf) and the (hoog)heemraden) met and acted as one body in the same way that the executive board meet at the city hall ( college van burgemeester en wethouders). A heemraad is the equivalent of an alderman ( wethouder) in local government, being a member of both the local legislative council, while having representational roles for his own area. The term goes back to pre-medieval days.

Literally the term means "home-advisor".