| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:FAO Paul | |
| Posted by: | Phil Andrews | |
| Date/Time: | 16/02/12 13:56:00 |
| Sarah I know it always sounds slghtly pathetic to say "what if", but I do honestly believe that had the general election not intervened and the community councillors had held Isleworth and Syon wards, with all else being equal, you would have witnessed truly massive changes in the mentality of our local authority and the balance of power between elected members and chief officers. I am sure the ICG would have forced this issue, probably in the face of much wailing and gnashing of teeth I grant you, as a central plank of any coalition agreement. To be truthful it would have cost the taxpayers millions but it would have been worth it to have had the authority functioning in a way that recognised the primacy of the community and the democratic principle that is supposed to underpin local government, indeed all government, in this country. The current administration is, I believe, making some changes and they would appear to be a movement in the right direction. I feel the councillors we have in this part of the borough are making as good a fist of it as they possibly could under the circumstances in which they operate, and I wish them well. However they are inevitably slaves to the party machinery and could never, with the best of intentions, expect to bring about the root and branch changes that community councillors, answerable only to their own public, would have done. I believe certain personnel will be leaving the organisation and that in my view could not have happened too soon. But let's see what comes in place of the old set-up before we break out the balloons and the party hats. |