if 'antonios' recent action of bumping a load of threads where I was the OP (some of which I inheritted from other banned and 'wiped' users, not all were originally mine) showed me anything, it was that I have historically agreed with Tosha that Mallon is far from perfect and his record as mayor shows that he has bitten off too many projects that are now sat unfinished and unfundable (sp?) when he could have taken things one 'vision' at a time. If he had, for instance, concentrated solely on the old St Hildas project, which I think was his original 'vision', then he should, by now be able to hold it up as an example of a vibrant, regenerated community. Instead its an almost empty near-slum. And Gresham is going the same way. Now, if Mallon was to say 'look at what I have done for the town', it would be asking to be de-selected.
Frankly I think his 'vision' for Gresham is wrong. If you sand-blasted the houses in Gresham back to their clean red-brick, they would regain much of their lost character and help to make the place look 'cleaner'. If you look over need the university at some of the street-houses there that have been converted into student accommodation, you would see what mean. Many of the red-brick houses in Middlesbrough are simply 'stained' by the towns industrial past. All they need is a good wash! The problem now is, the same can't be said of the people that are left there. Many of the 'good' residents have gone, with only those pitched in for a fair deal or trapped by the circumstances left to live among the social problems which are now rife in that part of town. And the residents that cause them.
When you look at his track record, he SHOULD be unelectable. Taxigate, which I think is an absolute disgraceful way to behave on Bashirs part, BTW, seems to have consolidated Mallons vote, rather than dimished it. Suddenly 'City Status' has gone right out of the window! It doesn't even get a mention in his election leaflet. Guess that's because some of us saw straight through that particular ruse...
But what is the alternative to an Independent mayor whose detractors proclaim him to be Labour in all but name? A Labour mayor who proclaims himself to be Labour in name only?
Elect Independent Mallon and, should Labour lose its chokehold on the town, he is free to 'side' with whosoever he wishes. One of the allegations that others have levelled at Mallon is that he 'cosies up' to whoever he thinks can further his career at any given time. Which means that, if Labour dont have a majority next week, he can, indeed should, create an executive that reflects the make-up of the council in microcosm.
Elect Labour man MJ Carr, and, even if Labour have no majority in Middlesbrough, it will be his job to ensure that the same old faces sit in the executive seats come May 6th. Either that or he will face expulsion from the party because detractors are not tolerated in Labour Middlesbrough. He has no option and as such, I think this 'MJ Carr for change in Middlesbrough' campaign is a lie.
My dilemma is that do I vote for the man that has led a Labour executive while they've destroyed large parts of the town, or do I vote for a man who I think will allow Labour to continue to do so, even if they no longer hold the majority.
As I have said before, it's the council that needs to change, not the figurehead. Maybe I'm swaying back to 'better the devil you know', this morning...
