Former Smalltown and Dullbridge Town and Sadgebore District Councillor Fencesitter has recently taken to AceCrook to detail two upcoming meetings. SomersetClive is delighted to be able to reproduce his comments here.
Next week there are two important meetings. On Tuesday there is the Annual Town Meeting for Smalltown and Dullridge (sic) parish which is open to all residents of the parish. It is at 7 pm at Porlands Hall (sic), (off Porlands Road (sic) ).
It is a great shame that former Cllr Fencesitter has managed to show his ignorance of all things Dullbridge, by spelling the town’s name incorrectly, as well as the name and address of the meeting location.
The Annual Town Meeting is usually fairly bland (as are most meetings if I’m honest. I don’t know how I managed to stay awake during some of them) but as this will be the first since the BeFuddleds became the largest group there is no guarantee that it will be this year.
It’s actually the Annual TownS Meeting. Two towns = plural, but former Cllr Fencesitter along with his fellow Councillors of all political persuasions always seem to forget Dullbridge.
Taking over the adminstration at a time when all three principal officers had resigned (partly because of the abuse they had suffered on local social media) and with 8 out of 9 Councillors being new has not been easy.
Once again Cllr Fencesitter blames ‘social media’ for staff departures, rather than focusing on the fact that those staff members believed that covering up for Squire Teflon and his fellow Illiberal Party councillors had become a job too far. Obviously former Cllr Fencesitter does not believe that residents of Smalltown and Dullbridge who pay the Council Tax used to pay SaDTC employees should be allowed an opinion on whether or not those jobs are being done correctly. Being ‘new’ is not a reasonable excuse for basic mistakes. Perhaps listening to or seeking advice from the one Smalltown and Dullbridge BeFuddled Party Town Councillor with previous experience would have been useful, rather than muddling along and pretending that previous experience gained during Parent Teacher Association meetings would suffice.
There have been successes and difficult decisions – some of which have not been helped by the way in which council procedures have required them to be made (which is why a working party has been set up to review the procedures).
We asked former Councillor Fencesitter to detail some of the successes achieved by Smalltown and Dullbridge Town Council since the BeFuddleds took control. He said he would get back to us when he could think of some.
Some recent decisions have undoubtedly been on the dodgy side. Is it right to blame procedures and seek to change the way matters have been handled (using committees which do not have a remit to make a particular decision for example), rather than admitting that it is the inexperience of those involved that has led to the mistakes?
It is likely that our political opponents will try to attack us at the meeting so if you can attend, please do and show solidarity with our Councillors who are doing a difficult job.
It is not just political opponents who may raise criticism of decisions. Many BeFuddled Party members are also unhappy with the way the BeFuddleds have conducted themselves both in public and private meetings. Likewise, it is only a difficult job if you don’t actually know what you are doing – which seems to be the case for the majority of the new intake of councillors.
On Wednesday there is a meeting for BeFuddled members only at the Community Hall in Barrow Road – also at 7 pm.
This will be an opportunity for members to discuss things in private with our Town Councillors and share their views and perceptions.
Translation : All BeFuddled Party members who are considering turning up at the Annual Towns Meeting to share their concerns are asked not to, but to instead share them with us in private.
All BeFuddled Party members should have received an invitation to this event, but if you have changed your email address recently then you probably won’t have done. Please contact Cllr Banish Barracuda for more information.
Several hours later Cllr Barracuda confirmed that in actual fact the emails hadn’t yet been sent, but he was doing his best to sort it all out and could members please stop contacting him to tell him that they hadn’t received it.