Middlesbrough Council - News Forum - Setting a light to the News

THE region’s town hall leaders are “stupid” if they cannot cope with the most savage cuts to their budgets in generations, a Cabinet minister claimed yesterday.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles turned his fire on council bosses who have warned of painful cuts to services, insisting they would be guilty of negligence if that happened.
Giving evidence to a committee of MPs, Mr Pickles again insisted the draconian cuts – announced last week – could be achieved by taking out a wasteful layer of middle management.
And he warned that council leaders – not himself – would be the target of the public’s anger if they axe libraries, leisure centres and care services, rather than get rid of managers.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/yoursa ... s_Pickles/

alexander,

I'm with you on this one. But there is more to it than that. Many people would aspire to stand for election as a local Independent councillor but wouldn't know how to or where to start.

In Middlesbrough, we have two 'mima's. One is obviously the gallery, the other is the Middlesbrough Independent Members Association, a 'loose' umbrella group which embraces existing independent councillors, giving them something of a support network similar to that enjoyed by councillors who have party affiliation but without the need to lose their indepenedent status as councillors, ie, when it comes to voting and so on, they can vote whichever best serves their constituency or ward, rather than toeing the party line, possibly to the detriment of the people that voted for them.

I would have thought that MIMA would actively seek to search out the sort of people that you refer to. Good, local people with the potential to become Independent councillors. But they dont seem to have any sort of 'recruitment' strategy in place. If Middlesbrough had more Independent councillors, it would benefit MIMA, they would swell in numbers and have more chance of breaking the Labour groups domination of the town. MIMA are best placed, in my opinion, to start the 'revolution' in Middlesbrough, yet they seem content accept the status quo.

On the EG site, one of the posters that would normally be associated with supporting the Labour group asked me when I would be declaring myself as an independent candidate for Linthorpe. That comment was picked up by Bowen, whose response was something along the lines of "Rockliffe Rover an Independent candidate for Linthorpe - In yer dreams!"

Now let's put this to bed first of all. While I would like to think that I could make a difference if such an honour was bestowed upon me by the people of Linthorpe, I know that I simply do not have the time to do the role justice. I would need to commit myself fully to the job and I couldn't afford to do that. As such, my current personal situation dictates that I wouldn't stand.

But Bowens comments are very telling. Most people are aware that Bowen was 'outed', rightly or wrongly, as cllr Joan McTigue. I personally have always posted under the unspoken assumption, again, rightly or wrongly, that this was the case, as well as with her previous incarnations. I'm sure I'm not alone in my assumption and that others too made the same assumption, although such claims could never be fully proven or unproven.(I'm trying very hard to be both honest and magnanimous as I really dont want this thread to turn into another Bowen v JohnR slanging match.)

For a poster, who many regard to be an Independent councillor or at least has very close ties to one, to make such a comment, only serves to put off good, local people with the potential to become good, local independent councillors from seeking to stand. Completely at odds with what I thought would be for the overall benefit of the MIMA group, of which cllr McTigue is a member.

Four months from today and the election will be over. We all recognise that more good, local independent councillors are crucial to turning Middlesbroughs fortunes around. MIMA, in my opinion, has an essential role to play in finding these people, nurturing and supporting them in their campaign. For me, the reason the Labour group constantly berate MIMA is because they can see the potential threat that MIMA could pose, if it got its act together.

While tosha works tirelessly to expose the wrongdoings of the present, Labour controlled council, there is no point in him doing this unless someone is willing to provide the electorate with a credible alternative to the status quo.

MIMA - get yer finger out!!!!

Rockliffe Rover can I suggest we all leave the MIMA group of Independents to it rather than tell them how to go about getting re-elected and recruiting . I am willing to bet they are well organised and well under way. It cannot be in their best interest to announce to the world what their plans are yet.

Hi JR,

I gather you are referring to front line as, school crossing patrollers and etc. Whilst the bloated earnings of the councillors never comes into question, the numbers, wages and etc of those front liners are being cut. EG article, where crossing patrollers are being cut, exposing the folk crossing to even more danger, and as in MBC, no mention of councillor renumerations being reduced.

Tosha

AHSOT1 wrote:I gather you are referring to front line as, school crossing patrollers and etc. Whilst the bloated earnings of the councillors never comes into question, the numbers, wages and etc of those front liners are being cut. EG article, where crossing patrollers are being cut, exposing the folk crossing to even more danger, and as in MBC, no mention of councillor renumerations being reduced.

That's precisely what I meant, Tosha. Sacked lollipop ladies, roads left ungritted in treacherous conditions and bins unemptied whilst incompetent councillors and lazy civil servants sit on their fat arses and fill their snouts from the trough of taxpayers' money.

Johnv_r are you under the impression that all councillors have a say in where the cuts are made Mbro Town Hall?

Hi JR/Bowen
Arguments for and against.

These I obtained before most councillors got a look at them. Posted elsewhere, but I got banned.

Only 4 urls allowed per post so apologies over three posts.









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Note as I said before, nothing about the allowances of councillors and etc

No mention of a lot of money going to be expended into Longridge Wood, (of which you heard that from me first some almost 3 weeks ago, only just appeared in the EG??

£560,000 contribution into the NESTI association???? April deadline!!!! N

The list goes on....and on.....and on!

BTW you can find that information on Google North East Smart Ticket Iniative!"

Tosha

Bowen2010 wrote:Johnv_r are you under the impression that all councillors have a say in where the cuts are made Mbro Town Hall?

Not when they flounce out before any votes are taken and engage in bitching contests rather than constructive debate.

Hi JR,

On this one, I can see why councillors (Flounce???? wrong words IMHO) leave, the results are pre determined, to waste further personal time is pointless, the show of hands, (again pre determined) almost makes it a waste of time even making the effort to even turn up!
The whip again, pre determines the majority.
The folk who vote for those, who they feel may represent their views, become delusioned, apathetic, and make the often heard comment, "Its just a waste of time voting.... they're all the same".
That's the position of which is promoted by those in power, aided and abetted by the Old Labour Standards Board routine.

I'll repeat here, what I have said elsewhere, at a standards Board event, whilst sat next to a person who I later realised was Clr P. Purvis, the comment was from P. Purvis .... before the event even started......
"(McTigue) She will be found guilty, and get two months suspension" that event gave me an insight as to how MBC and the CABAL operate, it made me only more curious, and the more I looked the worse it became.
This was not about fair play, it was about control!
The subsequent appeal, only served to cement my earlier thoughts. McTigue was an incidental, a thorn, much of what I had heard, made an awful lot of sense, manipulation was the name of the game.

Tosha

Control
Media controlled to keep up the dogma and spin and provide a platform critics have no real access to
Population control by intimidation and spying, spy on anyone anytime under the guise of state security laws
Urge neighbour to spy on neighbour, family member to spy on family member
Dumb down the population, through education engineering
The way of the communist, totalitarian societies and the peoples democratic republics so beloved by the left in britain
The dear leaders should live away from the populations they oversee
And the way this country was ran by new Labour for 13 years.
No wonder they don't want to give it up.

On this one, I can see why councillors (Flounce???? wrong words IMHO) leave, the results are pre determined, to waste further personal time is pointless, the show of hands, (again pre determined) almost makes it a waste of time even making the effort to even turn up! The whip again, pre determines the majority.

Hi Tosha. If one applied that argument to the House of Commons then the opposition benches would be empty.The MPs would say they are busy with constituency work and there is no point in turning up because the government whips would determine the lobby count. But the opposition benches aren't empty because MPs realise that their constituents want to see that they have at least contributed to the debate and had their representative's vote counted to demonstrate that they are still representing them.

Shouldn't the same apply in ToyTown Hall? A councillor who is absent through petulance is no better than one who is absent because they work off-shore as far as ward residents are concerned.

BTW, if you don't like the verb "flounce" perhaps "stomped out" may be more appropriate in McTigue's case. With as little grace as she showed when she did the same thing after the last general election result for Middlesbrough was announced. Even the loathsome Jacqui Smith behaved with a little more dignity when she was unseated last May.

THE real COST OF COUNCILLORS ON THE 4 TEESSIDE COUNCILS FOR 2009-2010
....considering Cabinet Minister's concerns about local government gravy trains ...
with nearly £3million taxpayers monies used for councillors allowances/expenses over 4 Teesside councils

Council ............................................Hartlepool.........Middlesbrough.......Stockton.........Redcar.........Regional total
Population ..........................................92000....................142000...........17800.........134000..................546000
% of Region........................................16.8%.......................26.0%...........32.6%...........24.5%

Number of Employees..............................4700......................7000..............8000............6000....................25700
% of Region........................................18.3%.......................27.2%............31.1%..........23.3%

Population per employeee........................19............................20..................22................22

Number of Councillors.............................47........................... 49..................56................59......................211
Population per Councillor.........................1,957.......................2,898.............3,179...........2,271

Basic Allowance £s...............................274828....................304456..........479379.........558969................1617632
Special Allowances £s............................147312....................272721...........260385.........161767..................842185
Other Allowances £s...............................21098......................12970............15228..........16374....................65670
Police Authority Allowances £s..................32560......................31037............10950...........39692..................114239
Fire Authority Allowances £s.....................5438......................25436............20904...........33777....................85555

Total Allowances £s..............................481236.....................646620.........786846.........810579................2725281
% of total...........................................17.7%......................23.7%...........28.9%...........29.7%

Councillors political make up.................Hartlepool .........Middlesbrough.......Stockton..........Redcar.........Regional total
Labour...............................................24..............................28...............21................25.....................98
Conservative.........................................4...............................6...............13................11.....................34
Lib-Dems.............................................5...............................1.................5................16......................27
Independent.........................................14..............................13...............14................5.......................46
Others.........................................................................................................3................2........................5

Totals................................................47............................48.................56...............59......................210
% of total............................................22%.........................23%...............27%............28%

% Labour domination...............................51.1%.....................58.3%............37.5%.........42.4%........................46.7%
Non-Labour domination............................48.9%.....................42.7%.............62.5%.........57.6%.......................54.5%
Annual cost per Councillor £s.....................10,239.................... 13471............14,051........13,739......................51,500
% share of regional total...........................19.9%....................26.2%............ .27.3%........26.7%

*** Only Middlesbrough Council somehow have the Labour domination to do as they wish and ignore all others
*** Stockton & Redcar Councils have to try other means to secure the favours of others, notably Independents