CAN WE COUNT ON YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT

The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, so as the Lib Dems on the Borough Council begin their feeble attempts to convince an election ready public that they have led us well at the Town Hall for the past four years I thought I would ask a public question of their leader. I have asked it before.............twice......................and got no answer, perhaps today in print and with an election in the air I will be more successful.

You see about 2 years ago a sitting Liberal Democrat Councillor, knocked on the door of one of their elderly constituents just before Xmas and told them that they (the Cllr) were in so much debt that if they didn't find £150 then the bailiffs would be paying them a visit! And then in a complete reversal of the normal councillor/constituent relationship the Lib Dem Cllr asked the pensioner to lend them the £150 with sincere promises to pay it back.

Now obviously the words "promises" and "Liberal Democrats" do not sit well together in the best of circumstances, but here we had an elected member of the Borough Council going far beyond asking someone to lend them their vote. Disgraceful I hear you cry, but we have only just begun.

The money was not pf course paid back, so the pensioner wrote to me and others asking if I we could intervene. A telephone call with the Chief Executive and the Borough Solicitor determined that the matter of money owed was of course a private civil matter between the two people lender and recipient, but the Councillor in question may have bought the council or their office into disrepute, so a standards board complaint could be raised. This could if the Cllr was found in breach of the code lead to them being suspended for a period of time or even barred from the council, but as the Cllr in question has only attended a handful of meetings since their election, this would have been a reward not a penalty and still would not have got the pensioner his money back.

So after mulling things over I decided instead to call upon the moral compass and good nature of the Leader of the Council in his role as Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group to help me resolve the matter, my request was simple.

"Brian. this sort of despicable behaviour reflects badly on all of us, will you please raise this matter with your group, and can I ask that the debt is paid by the Liberal Democrat group from their funds and then reclaimed from the Cllr from their expenses"

I told him I had no appetite for a pointless standards board meeting, particularly as the Cllr in question would not be standing for re-election (thankfully) and left it with him to resolve internally and come back to me once it was resolved. (so much for comments from the Lib Dem benches as to me being over political, for once I cared nothing for the political fallout, I just wanted the old guy to get his money back

Surely in the Spirit of collective responsibility the Liberal Democrat group would want to deal with and remove this stain on their reputation? No such luck, despite reminding the Leader of the Council of my request he refused to update me as to his or the groups actions.

Another Lib Dem member on the Council, obviously with a conscience informed me when I raised it with them that the group had decided not to pay the debt on the Cllr's behalf.

The weakness of leadership in such a situation is depressing, the lack of willingness by the collective whole to act decently to correct the wrongs of one of their own staggering. But now at least you know the measure of the people you are dealing with on the doorstep over the next few weeks.

£150 wouldn't even buy them a focus leaflet, and I still give Brian Hoare the opportunity through this page to tell me he has now dealt with this matter or plans to do so, but it should not have taken me to write these words to spur them into action, their inaction so far on this matter speaks far louder than my words ever can

BLOGGERS BLOCK?

February was a write off me in the blogger stakes I am afraid, starting fears that I might be suffering from Bloggers block? No such chance for the local politicians in the run up to Mays Borough Council Poll.

My absence was more to do with Cllr overload as case work reached record levels, it seems as ever the more you do, the more you will be asked to do. The problem with being an Independent though is that frustrated voters from across the town contact you when their own Councillors have failed to deliver for them! One such case I am dealing with at present has been ignored by the two local Lib Dem Cllrs for over two years now. Well when I say ignored I don't mean totally ignored, as they did manage to make an initial visit and talk the elderly couple involved into donating £40 for Liberal Democrat funds!! More of that later. And how about the other Liberal Democrat Councillor who borrowed £150 from an old aged pensioner in their ward two years ago and still hasn't paid it back? That will loosen my keyboard strokes in the near future no doubt! The leader of the Council Cllr Brian Hoare is aware of the above of course and I even gave him the chance to get his group to repay the elderly gentlemen the "Loan" so as to save the council any future embarrassment. But like most other requests for decency and compromise it fell on death ears.

February also saw me very busy assisting an old friend and comrade Ann Timson who so bravely tackled six smash and grab robbers outside Micheal Jones Jewellers with just her handbag as a weapon.Having promised An I would deal with the press fro her I was perhaps not surprised but overwhelmed when with worldwide media frenzy that followed. Ann gave limited dignified interviews, ignored the press pack and refused to take a penny for her troubles, as a result a lot of local and national charities will benefit. More of that too later.

All that coupled with two councils at the Town and County Halls both cutting services to the bone and both blaming the other party in power/opposition for doing so whilst conveniently forgetting that it is their own Tory/LibDem coalition at Westminster who is really responsible in the first place for their cuts agenda.

Oh and apologies I took a week off in beautiful Dubrovnik during half term with my wife to boot so a very busy 21 out of 28 days of February, but a silent blog.

It's now time to make up for the gap in normal service!