Guest 654- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 169
Howard
Iv never been one for all the dressing up, im sure it suits some people(sorry about the pun)
I'm not sure all this realy in todays society realy means much, and does it need to continue? thats an interesting one.
SUE#
There still is 45 Cllrs on District and as i say that means we have 8 cllrs representing priory maxton and elms vale
4 town cllrs
1 county cllr
3 District cllrs
now thats a joke.
Whether we see them or not is another debate, but 8 cllrs, come on Sue.
I KEEP looking a my council tax bill blimey is that rising
iV never been a great fan of all this mayor stuff, maybe we should get a debate going on here
Do we need a mayor?
Do we need 3 councils?
whats your thoughts?
Guest 648- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 258
Why do we need four Town Councillors in your area Keith.Tell me what their responsibilties are?Yes we do have 45 District Councillors approx 2000 residents each.The wards are very large in area mine River,Alkham ,Ewell Minnis and on the borders of Hawkinge.Its a lot of people to give personal attention too.
I think as I stated previously there will be closer working with Districts.We already share some working practises.Why are Parish Councils so large??half the time they cannot get people to stand.
Guest 654- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 169
Sue
Why do we need 3 District cllrs it can be argued the same way.
I believe all the councils should get together and not look at things along political lines at how they can stay in control
of councils, but more at whats best for Dover.
If he Town council is to remain(and it looks like all parties support decisions at the most local level)
then serious debate needs to take place on the usefull ness of 3 councils and cost.
Don't think Sue that Town/parish's suffer lack of candidates, its no different at District or county council levels.
Its all time consuming, and these days people wont commit time to it, and its becoming
Its also understanding when candidates get slated for trying by local media at times.
Many candidates/councillors have given up because of this
Roll on the debate
(but i wont hold my breath)
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
i have no problem with the ceremonial bit.
my gripe is with power being in the hands of the town council, who are completely unaccountable.
keith
whilst i agree with your sentiments about the waste by having so many councillors at different levels, satire from
the local press is necessary to keep egos in check.
you have rightly pointed out that kent county council has no real connection with east kent.
does everybody know who their county councillor is, what their powers are, and what is the responsibilty of KCC as opposed to DDC.
people blame DDC for the business rates and the schools and hospitals.
absolutely nothing to do with them.
Guest 660- Registered: 14 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,205
Being a former Town Cllr and now a District Cllr,you are right that the Town Council have not got the powers to do a great deal,but are been forced to take on more because the District is looking to drop some of its commitments,e.g.sports fields,playareas and I am sure the Town Council will grasp the chance to do more.
As far as the Mayor is concerned,being the Mayor is not an easy job,they have to attend 300+ functions in a year and they do thier bit for promoting the Town.
The arguement about who will be Mayor is very simple,in Politics you get nothing for coming second,if Gordon Brown thought that one of the Tories was doing a good job would he give them a cabinet position, no,the same on the District who ever is in power will choose the cabinet from thier own group,so the Town Council largest group Labour will have a selection process.this will take in anyone who is nominated,the reason that we get a Mayor serving more than once is nothing unusal some Mayors have been in office for 10 or even 12 years,there are otherthings to take into consideration.Being Mayor is almost a fulltime Job,not everyone can do 2 fulltime Jobs,that is why you also get a Deputy Mayor to cover the Mayor when the Mayor is either unable to attend or is double booked,not everone wants to or feels able to be Mayor,but in general I think the Mayor does a good job for no real money yes they get an allowance to pay for tickets to dinners etc,can you imagine going to a function and the Mayor says give me a£1 worth of raffle tickets! of course not what they spend is recovered by the Town Council,but being a Town Councillor can cost lots of money,at a rough guess £1000 TO £2000 a year
If you knew what I know,we would both be in trouble!
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
john
my original point was that it is always a political nomination.
why does it have to be someone who has served time on the town council, that gets the job.
i have already mentioned jack hewitt, mike mcfarlane, nerry tunn, there are many more that have contributed to the town without being tarred with party politics.
i have only been here just under 6 years, but notice that our bookshops are loaded with publications from local historians.
the two i have noticed are joe harman and bob hollingsbee, hope the spellings are correct.
to finish john, your post suggests that mayors are dragged kicking and screaming into the role.
why is there such a cat fight to get the job?
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
I am reading all the post,s about this but have nothing to say about them.
I remain yours faithfully Cllr Vic[m]
Guest 660- Registered: 14 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,205
Howard,not screaming and kicking,but few as I understand it stood or where nominated from the Labour Group,you can elect your own Mayor,every year there is a notice in the paper stating how many electorate there are in Dover,and I believe if 5% of the population ask for a directly elected Mayor then as I understand it you can have it.Howard you have started something now watch Vic running around the Town with a clipboard!
If you knew what I know,we would both be in trouble!
I am sure we can drum up 5% - let's go for an elected Mayor!! Bring it on!
Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,982
I think some of you will have to do some research The Town Council are a large Parish council their Chairman becomes the Mayor.At District Council level a vote was taken in 2000 not to have an elected mayor.The cabinet system came in under a Labour Administration.We have already been down that road.Most parish councils are non political.
Who was it who voted not to have an elected mayor? Were they elected?
Guest 648- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 258
Every four years the public have the chance to vote for someone who they think will listenSurprise surprise very few people put themseves forward for election...Those who do get elected are there to represent the people.Everyone in their ward or area whether they are red,yellow ,green or blue.That is the trust given to your elected representatives.
Im not going to go on about who listens or works all I will say is I mix with a lot of people not just at social gatherings but walking around being in local shops etc.
Im off now to walk around River visit local shop then home again.
I think this is not about you, Sue. I just wanted to know who it was who voted NOT to have en alected mayor, and if they were themselves elected..........
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
this issue seems to have been brushed under the carpet.
no-one at the town council has put up any defence.
how do we go about abolishing them?
i have just checked their website to find out what they have been up to, the last minutes on there are 3 months out of date.
Guest 652- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 595
I am a Town Councillor, and I can assure you that I would never want to be put forward as Mayor, you might all think it is an easy Job, but you would be wrong, the amount of engagements they have to attend, is unbelievable, I hope I was elected by the people of Priory, Maxton & ElmsVale, to work at DTC level, on their behalf.
Just because some of us do not post on here, does'nt mean to say we are not working for you
Sheila
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
sheila
i think that you are missing the point here.
posting on here is a minor thing.
withholding information from the electorate is a much more serious thing.
I have now given up the post of Chairman of Finance for reasons that are now well know of my dissatisfaction principally with the way the Council has been managed last year - I have great hope that this year the new team will do better. as part of the old team I was unable to express my views publicly but to have to work with bringing in the 29% precept rise and how it was brought about politically was difficult. I was more against the politics of it than the overlarge sum. I however finished the job and now as I am not so bound by the restriction may now express my opinions more freely.
I have seen the whinges of some about problems with DTC so if anyone wants to address them to me by e-mail I will address every one. as I have said before I will not enter in to public wrangling over individual persons or issues unless they have public interest. I will and have done my job and know that the public could never appreciate the many unpaid hours that go into it. However as other councillors here know - you dont do it for that. I do intend to withdraw from public participation over the next few years but will keep progressing with the Dover Alliance as I fervently believe that politics has been the ruination of this town and certainly at Town level has no place.
It is best now to look forward to a town which is growing up - which is going to be developing and which needs all of us to get involved in some way - I regret that I have little tolerance for those that sit on the sidelines and complain but do nothing and great respect for those that even if I dont agree with them actually go out and try. In the next ten years this town will change how it changes depends entirely on those that are involved in it not the crows on the fence.......
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
does this mean that we will now get accurate information from the town council?
now the restraints are off, there will be no excuse for dodging questions.
Can I just be pedantic and point out that some of us who sit on the sidelines have more than full time jobs and actually pay people to run the district for us in out various and manifold taxes and other revenues. Our invoices entitle us to a view on how the place is managed.............and those full time jobs play a part in that even as they reduce the time we have to involve ourselves personally at local level.