I'm bracing myself for some bad news
I see Sir Peter Soulsby, the elected mayor of Leicester, is presently in high-profile mode, getting as much publicity as he possibly can in the media, with at least four mentions in Monday's edition of the Leicester Mercury alone.
Politicians only court the media for one reason – popularity.
They want popularity for only two reasons.
The first is for elections and the other is when they are about to do something nasty to the people who voted them in.
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I wonder what Sir Peter has in store for us tax payers of Leicester?
Will gypsy / travellers' sites be built in the Beaumont Leys / Mowmacre areas? Or perhaps the building on the Thurnby Lodge estate will be sold for a mosque? Maybe a large rise in council tax? Maybe all three? I dread what's coming.
Maybe we should rethink this American idea of elected mayors, as I don't remember the public being consulted about it.
It was purely a Labour group decision without any public participation at all.
We must have an effective opposition to Labour's near-monopoly of councillors in Leicester, as both Labour councillors and the mayor can do as they please and they become a dictatorship, which will in time include giving themselves much more in the way of salary and expenses.
It was once an honour to be an unpaid elected councillor, but as usual it seems money has reared its ugly head and this city cannot progress as it should democratically and fairly.
However if we are going to be governed by an American system, it should also be governed by the people of Leicester, for the people of Leicester, and not just by a Labour group.
There should be a committee of independent non-political members who can represent the citizens of Leicester and have the right to challenge the mayor and his decisions.
Until we have that, may the Lord have mercy on us all, because at the moment Leicester City Council won't!
Bernard Fox, Leicester.
Comments
by sonjel
Wednesday, October 03 2012, 6:44PM
“A petition signed by 5% of the electorate (around 11,500 names) is sufficient to force a referendum into whether or not we should have an elected Mayor.”
by spalding1944
Wednesday, October 03 2012, 4:10PM
“Everyone should have realised by now that Pete's on an ego trip and will be until,hopefully, replaced by someone else or the position scrapped altogether”