No not the bovine type, but the written word.
Elsewhere on the strange world that is the internet, people are refering to how local councillors can have some form of employment and serve on specific types of committee.
I have been on the council for 13 years plus now, and have represented wards in all our major towns, does that mean I am qualified to speak or not when an item from one of those towns comes to planning.(bit of a pointless discussion,now, because as chair of planning I should not express a view during the debate, and as some of you will notice, I rarely vote, unless there is a tied vote, then its my responsibility to do so).
I am sorry, but my previous employment covers Police/Fire/ Media/ and agriculture, so should I refrain, as a councillor from having a view on those matters?
Some councillors have a past and present in education, shop keeping, security, building, homemaking, Health, oh the list is endless.
My point is that Councillors make up nearly all sectors of society, and are there to represent their constituents,(even if they did not vote for them). I have always tried to do that, and am pretty sure that most other councillors, of whatever political party, have done the same.
Some of the comments I have seen on the web make me sure that those individuals would not be able to vote on some of the issues that are current. Strange then that they seem to want to alienate the very councillors who's support they want.
But this , of course, is the way that society is going, elect someone, and when they try and take into account ALL views, castigate them for not agreeing with one side or the other.
I am pretty sure that I speak on behalf of a great majority of the 56 councillors who represent Thanet, when I say that we are all here to do as best we can for the community as a whole, not to further our own interests!
26 comments:
Have I got this right you imply that some councilors would not be able to vote on issues that are current due to comments they may have made.
How so, is this anything to do with the standards board of england if so maybe you could be more explicit.
Assuming that is what you refer it is completely anti-democratic and a complete scandal.
Ken I have worked and traded as a shopkeeper in several different towns in England and have always been interested and talked with my customers about local issues and politics.
I can honestly say that it is only Thanet where I find that the great majority of the people I talk to have the view that many of their councillors are not serving for the benefit of the community.
Now I am not in a position to make judgments about this and so I don’t, however some of the councils decisions I have seen made over the last twenty years are extremely difficult to understand.
I am one of the few shopkeepers remaining in Margate. I also find when talking to my customers, they are very disatisfied with TDC, and feel their views are not being represented and are ignored by the council.
22:12
That sums up the sort of people that shop in Margate
Sorry to say it, but most of those that shop in Margate these days seem to be members of Thanet's growing underclass, and have a very negative mind set.
I prefer to shop at Westwood Cross or Broadstairs where most people seem use soap and water
It might not be what people want to hear but you are right, its not the council or the businesses, its the kind of people that have moved to Margate from around the country due to government policy
Sorry, but its true.
Its the people that make or break a place.
Most elected council members - of all political parties - work very hard. But they do so not JUST for the benefit of, and to support, those who elect them. They want to pursue, further, and promote their own suite of political views - their ideology - and the interests of their particular party. Some are ambitous and use local government to further career aspirations up the line.
Countless other people do equally valuable work for their communities, and for individual members of those communities, through many diferent types of voluntary work. They can often achieve wide-ranging results, but do not have the attendant publicity sought and secured by political representatives.
And let's not forget that elected council members get PAID, unlike those voluntary workers.
So sorry, Ken, but your persistent rants about the lot of you and your political colleagues doesn't really wash.
I think there is now a common perception throughout Thanet (not just people living in Margate) that some decisions are made contrary to the wishes, needs, aspirations and good of the local population. From what I have picked up some councillors would appear to favour the pursuing of their own personal agenda than of serving their local community. Thankfully these are few and most councillors seem to work extremely hard for their consituents, but the few tarnish the image TDC as a whole and should be weeded out by their respective parties.
Allan, as I said to Ken, I am not in a position to know the details, the only issue that I am really familiar with in detail is Pleasurama, where the council turned town a developer that was already building a good and attractive large development in the town, on the grounds that they were financially unstable and accepted an offshore company whose finances couldn’t be examined and appear never to have built anything.
Now this decision, and the decisions that continued to support the unsuitable and dangerous design occurred under both Labour and Conservative administrations, because the project was so badly thought out it has done untold damage to Ramsgate for years.
So the question that your comment begs is, why don’t this majority of decent honourable councillors of all parties get together and do the weeding?
16:23
life is not that black and white, let alone local politics
In my experience far too many Councillors impose their own jaundiced view of the world on the debate and allow their own parochial experiences to guide them, rather than listening to the views of the electorate.
I recall one debate where a Councillor in his 70's proceeded to rubbish a petition for increased sporting facilities on the grounds that he had played football for a number of years and there was no shortage of playing fields in Thanet.
Of course, he was totally wrong. He hadn't played football in 40 years, but instead of listening to people who were petitioning him, he proceeded to rubbish them. Can you imagine what impression this gives to people who have gone to the trouble of petitioning the Council? Is it any wonder they believe the Council is infested with twerps?
Ken, you admit to having been on the Council for 13 years. Stop imagining that you still know a great deal about anything else and start listening to what people say.
What I have seen on another Thanet blog today relating to the antics of a local councillor is appalling. If there is a crumb of evidence that what is being suggested there is true then the councillor concerned should resign immediately or be kicked out by his party. As a lifelong Conservative supporter and voter I will now think twice before putting a cross in the box.
18:23
nobody ever does anything about anything... so live with it
18:23
i bet 18:23 is a labour councillor pretending to be a conservative voter
But I will allow them to comment, even if they do nit have the Boll**s to put their real name, because we live in england not burma
What Councillor are they refering to? I don't have all DAY to read this.
Ah - so comments you don't agree with are considered to come from a political opposition. You won't believe that perhaps a member of the general public might be offended by the behaviour of someone in your party. This is very strange and blinkered reasoning and behaviour and perhaps is the reason that there is so much mistrust of TDC at the present time.
Maybe the DAY will come that the person you are talking about becomes the new leader of TDC
It's not often I agree with Ken, but in this respect he is correct.
There is no reason why some-one pursuing a calling in life that happens to be a builder/developer should not offer his/her services as a Councillor to serve his/her local community in that role.
However,it is vital that having assumed the onerous duty of serving one's Community, there is not even a potential conflict of interest or perception of self interest. It's a high standard that is expected by the electorate and one should not be surprised if they are not happy if they perceive, rightly or wrongly, that self interest appears to take precedent over public duty. Whether our Councillors like it or not, they have to maintain standards of integrity that far exceed the standards of many of the electorate they represent. That's the reality, even if it is hypocritical of the electorate.
"A wise man leaves weeds growing on his own land and helps till his neighbour's plot rather than be accused of self interest"- Confucious.
Me thinks that Bertie protests too much lol! Ooooh is someone is going to get caught with their pants down?
please read the small print
One rule for Radovan Karadzic and another rule for Robert Mugabe
Now come on Rick, you said you were retiring, and several of us wished you well. So go!
Rick, I am sure you are a nice bloke, but you go on too much and write nonsense
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