this is what bugs me is just the very basics in local elections, as why doesnt the majority of candidates live in the actual ward they are meant to represent?
why are they tied to a political party? i used to know a bloke who was a redditch councillor many years ago who was independent, the type of bloke who you could knock on his door at 8am or 9pm at night and say you have a problem etc and he would do his best to sort it. he used to tell me about the bullying that went on because he was independent and not towing the line, as in doing what other councillors (who belong to a party) said. they would put around stories or rumours just to get rid of the bloke as not in their club.
this is what really gets on my wick ....
I recently attended a diversity evening course that cost the council £1,900. It was held in the council chamber where £45,000 had just been spent on new furniture — to replace some that was barely eight years old.
and
After all, perks are all the rage in town halls today. When I was re-elected, almost the first thing I was asked was: ‘Of course, you’ll want a free council computer.’
I replied that I wouldn’t. I had my own computer and didn’t want to waste public funds on computers that cost £843 each, plus running costs of £129 per computer per year.
Of course, my parsimony was not shared by my fellow councillors. I learned that out of 57 colleagues, 50 have gone for the ‘free’ computers.
Though, of course, they are not free. All told, they cost council taxpayers almost £50,000 a year.
But then, what’s the odd £50,000 frittered away on computers, or £45,000 on buying unnecessary new furniture, or to pay the salary of a monitoring officer to keep councillors in line, when you can make savings in other areas, such as cutting services to the elderly