The Smalltown Culture and Arts Manager, Debby Karmary, has reacted angrily to the Smalltown and Dullbridge (SaD) Town Council Finance and Misappropriation committee’s request that the White Elephant Enclose Management Committee look at the WEE budget again.
The Finance and Misappropriation. Committee declined the proposed WEE budget increases during their November meeting and asked that the WEE ‘officers develop a plan which would treble the income and as part of that process increase the projected income for the 2023/24 financial year’.
The SCAM immediately picked holes in these suggestions saying “There is no given time line in terms of achieving treble the income and what happens if I find it unrealistic and can’t do it?
The wording ‘the plan must be in place by the start of the financial year’ suggests I have no choice – is that the case, or can I just say I’ll do it but not actually deliver? I mean, that’s what I’ve been doing for years, so I see no reason for that to change now.
What people fail to realise is that, even though I was employed to develop the business, the WEE isn’t a business. It is an asset. Without the WEE I wouldn’t be employed.
I’d been planning to demonstrate the value of the WEE as an asset in terms of its effect on the wellbeing of the community. I had planned to do this during 2021/22 but couldn’t because the WEE was closed. I didn’t bother doing it once the WEE reopened, because it seemed rather a pointless exercise, as for most people the only effect it has on their wellbeing is to make them angry about the financial drain.
However, I will now suggest that I be allowed to carry out a survey during 2023/24 and report my findings in 2025. This should see me secure my job for at least another two years.
The WEE is definitely not a business and even if it were, no business would want to treble its income. That’s a ridiculous idea, why would any business want to make a profit? Besides, when it comes to the WEE that will be impossible. There is a very slim chance that it could be possible to double the income through grant funding, rather than increasing usage, but this will require further Council investment
Therefore I would propose that, rather than trimming the budget so that Council Tax payers don’t face an increase on their bill to keep this failing enterprise open, we actually increase the budget.
In conclusion, I would say that I am extremely unhappy at the suggestion that I do the job I was employed to do. I’m on a very cushy number, taking money for achieving nothing and I can see no reason why that should change now. If Councillors want to see improvements then I need more money, not less. Otherwise you can just carry on giving me money for nothing and we will say no more about it.”
SaDTC has convened an Extraordinary meeting of the White Elephant Enclosure Mismanagement Committee on 14th December to discuss the SCAM’s proposals.