Resignation letter of former County Councillor, Paul Roberts, taken from Oscar's blog. It's hard to disagree with a lot of what he says - some Councillors may be very nice people but are in completely over their head, just not up to the job:
Dear All,
Firstly I would like the thank the residents of Caerhun who gave me the opportunity to represent them at Council and offer my apologies that I do not feel I can continue in this role for the full term.
It was with a great deal of thought and sadness that I felt compelled to resign as a Conwy County Councillor. I felt I could make a positive contribution and so worked incredibly hard to win my seat with one of the biggest upsets during the election in Wales beating Goronwy Edwards the ex-leader of the council (one of the 'old guard' councillors) at my very first attempt. That, to me anyway, said a lot about how hard I worked to win the seat and also worryingly for Goronwy Edwards I also think it said a lot about how many people locally felt towards his approach to being a councillor representing them for nearly two decades. I trust he has learnt from the experience of being beaten by a 'novice' not only once but twice in a year as he also lost in Deganwy some months later. That lesson could be used wisely to contribute more thoughtfully to Conwy residents in the future. One earns a seat, it is not a right.
I genuinely wanted to make a postive difference and believed I could. I wanted to fulfil my obligations to those who live in Caerhun first and foremost, however having spent a year in council I simply cannot continue in the role within an organisation that I do not believe has a real appetite for change and one where keeping the status quo seems to be more of a priority. I still believe our council wastes money hand over fist, lacks full accountability and transparency, engages in closed door back-slapping diplomacy and lacks any 'real' conviction to become a dynamic inspiring authority that could set the highest of standards for others councils in Wales to follow. We are still a relatively poor county compared to the rest of the UK and on that basis the status quo simply isn't working. We can thank years of Labour and Plaid for that and they are still holding the power base. Wales simply isn't performing to support its residents and more radical openness, co-operation and change is needed to improve the lives of its citizens. This is unlikely to happen given the Labour/Plaid stranglehold on power which is consigning our country to low standards of living, health and education. But still they hold power. I am a councillor…get me out of here..!!
I am proud of the contribution I have made to my local community with efforts to try to raise awareness from rural road safety, being a school governor, supporting local residents in problems with housing associations and police co-ordination, supporting local farm diversification, supporting the red lion pub project and also helping facilitate the Rowen Community Group to garnish the support of the whole of its community to work more effectively are a number that spring to mind. Also as one of the more vocal members of the Principle Scrutiny Committee, I leave knowing I have contributed to the residents through my detailed and often outspoken questioning of officers. Whilst respecting the protocols and work of the officers, it is a councillors duty to challenge them and their ideas more thoroughly than at times I saw witnessed.
Councillors scrutinise and at times often bemoan the skills of some officers whilst at the same time many of those same councillors are woefully under skilled themselves for the portfolios they are often are in charge of. This makes no sense to me and is purely political nonsense from the political leadership of the council. How else could you have people like Dilwyn Roberts (Plaid) be leader of Conwy Council with Ronnie Hughes (Labour), Dave Cowans (Labour) and Chris Hughes (Labour) in such positions of authority and responsibility. How are they qualified for this…? Cllr Joan Vaughan said it recently at the last principle scrutiny committee I attended. She was the portfolio holder that oversaw the Maesdu Bridge mismanagement and over spend. When I challenged her about her accountability as holder she said she was not an engineer and she cannot be held accountable? I like Joan personally but this sort of response, that is not uncommon amongst councillors, leaves me dumbfounded. A portfolio holder paid by the tax payer should be responsible for their portfolio and be skilled enough to undertake the role. It if goes wrong they should go. It is just this lack of accountability and transparency and jobs for the boys mentality that has made me want to end my association with the council.
One of the reasons why this happens is that I feel some forget why they become councillors in the first place. Whilst a very time consuming role indeed it is an honourable role of public service and duty, not a career or a job. In my own opinion the quality and calibre of some of the councillors is below par and some have such a lacklustre attitude to their roles that they may as well not bother wasting tax payers money by being there. The cynical approach to remuneration of councillors sickens me and means I am simply pushing at a closed door when I call for councillor's allowances to be reduced and pension rights given up and donated back to the coffers. Pensions alone are budgeted to cost somewhere in the region of £150,000 this year so rather than some councillors pocketing that money it could be spent on local community projects instead.
Having been a vocal representative of the residents of Caerhun and Conwy to reduce the costs of councillors I was a lone voice. Councillors have been voting for cuts across the board in so many areas that affects so many peoples lives and bizarrely they will not vote to opt out of councillors receiving pensions and also will not vote to cut the allowances and expenses that councillors receive for their duties. All sorts of excuses will be provided why that is the case from the council leader Dilwyn Roberts and others (i.e. it is in line with national policy and all that nonsense) but councillors can choose to change allowances but simply will not choose to be less of a financial burden on the council. A right is a right but it does not have to be exercised..! Turkeys should vote for christmas and costs to the council should be slashed. Can you see Dilwyn Roberts the leader(Plaid), Dave Cowans (Labour), Ronnie Hughes (Labour), Mike Priestly (Lib Dems) trying to push that through council….?
There are 59 councillors in Conwy which in my opinion is far too many when we have MEP's, MP's, AM's also and I would like to see a dramatic reduction in the number of county councillors, the empowerment of and more training for the community councils (which are generally inefficient at the moment), a continued strengthening of the specialist skills of the officers (which will also help to compensate for councillors with low skills and experience) and furthermore I question some councillors motivation for the role the undertake entirely.
For some I feel that the remuneration they received for their public duty becomes too important an income stream for them which then I feel must make it difficult to want to lose that remuneration and therefore easier to fall in line with 'status quo decision making'. This has the potential to influence councillors to not rock the boat as much as they ought. The remuneration is a very nice top up to anyones retirement or other income streams and when you look at the age and composition of the councillors one wonders how much influence this has on decision making.
When is an independent not a independent…when they are a councillor..??
I feel that those standing as independents and those voting independent creates a real problem for councils. Independents councillors vote for and often canvass for the main parties at general elections as they believe in the policies and values of those parties, but choose not to stand by their beliefs during local elections or tell the electorate who they vote for. Why not and on that basis how can anyone be truly independent? I find this unusual and I believe damages local democracy and also councils across wales. It is their right to do so, yet I feel it is cowardly in terms of how one feels politically and so adversely affects the make up and power of councils.
Why are independents allowed to form a group when they get to council and appoint a leader (Phil Evans in Conwy) where in many councils across wales they hold the balance of power and pulls the strings when forming the political makeup and influence of the council. If you are independent don't form a group, stay independent as the way it looks feels and acts, the "Independent Group" is a quasi-political party and as such they should abide by the same rules as other parties to level the playing field. I call for this anomaly in British Politics to be scrutinised more thoroughly and the legality of the independent group process and their perverse influence on politics to be taken in hand.
Also if we want better local democracy then voters need to wake up to what they are voting for and how council works more so that means getting more involved and making more of a noise. In Conwy voting Independent means voting for Labour, Plaid and the Lib Dems to run the council. I do not think that is what people want from an independent vote yet most do not realise that is what happens with their 'supposed' independent vote.
So the status quo continues and nothing really changes. How else would people like Dilwyn Roberts(Plaid), Ronnie Hughes(Labour) and Dave Cowans(Labour) have such levels of responsibility in the real world…? Hundreds of millions of pounds worth of budget responsibility in the hands of local councillors. Scary…!!!
I will focus more on creating jobs and tax revenues for the treasury through business and aim to make a difference to public life in other ways so I will continue to be a net contributor to Conwy rather than be a net burden as so many councillors in Conwy are.
Residents will be please to know I did not put in one expense to council whilst a councillor…!
Goodbye for now and thanks.
Kind Regards,
Paul Roberts
Director
