A maverick mayor elected after promising to slash council spending, clear the streets of yobs and ditch politically correct services is the torchbearer for how towns should be run.
On his first morning as Mayor of Doncaster in South Yorkshire , Peter Davies cut his salary from £73,000 to £30,000 then closed the council’s newspaper for "peddling politics on the rates".
Now three weeks into his job, Mr Davies is pressing ahead with plans he hopes will see the number of town councillors cut from 63 to just 21, saving taxpayers £800,000.
Mr Davies said: "If 100 senators can run the United States of America , I can’t see how 63 councillors are needed to run Doncaster ".
He has withdrawn Doncaster from the Local Government Association and the Local Government Information Unit, saving another £200,000. Mr Davies said, "They are just talking shops".
" Doncaster is in for some serious untwinning. We are twinned with nine other cities around the world and they are just for people to fly off and have a binge at the council’s expense".
The mayor’s chauffeur-driven car has also been axed by Mr Davies and the driver given another job. Mr Davies, born and bred in Doncaster, swept to power in the May election with 24,244 votes as a candidate for the English Democrats, a party that wants tight immigration curbs, an English Parliament and a law forcing every public building to fly the flag of St. George.
He has promised to end council funding for Doncaster ’s International Women’s Day, Black History Month and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History Month.
He said, "Politicians have got completely out of touch with what people want.
"We need to cut costs. I want to pass on some savings I make in reduced taxes and use the rest for things we really need, like improved children’s services".
Mr Davies has received messages from well wishers across the country and abroad as news of his no-nonsense approach spreads.
Now it’s your chance to spread this most sensible way to run a town council.
4 comments:
I totally agree with what the new Mayor of Doncaster is attempting and wish him every success in his endeavours.
I too could vote for anybody of like mind and intentions.
Doug
Northampton
http://rhmercer.com/blog/?p=398
Hi Bob,
Greetings from Plymouth, England. Thanks for taking the trouble to read my blog. I am sorry that you find me a puritanical, pragmatic, proselytizing pratt! I did say I would avoid unnecessary censorship on my blog and so I gladly publish the link to your comments. I do respect your right to express them whether positive or negative towards me. Hopefully, not all of my visitors will share your sentiments. Anyway, my warmest good wishes to you and Joyce in lovely South Australia and I promise to return to your blog to study more of your heartfelt views in the near future. Kind Regards, David, aka Old Plod of Plympton.
Further to my previous comment I would suggest that Doncaster, probably like most of the UK is over-governed when it comes to councillors! The Council area in which I live covers some 8,000 square Kms [roughly 3,000 square miles] and has only 11 Councillors. Unlike Doncaster these Councillors are not paid an obscene salary [for a very limited part-time job] but get an allowance for expenses - nowhere near what Doncaster Councillors are getting. This is not to say that they are any less self-centred or incompetent. That goes without saying. Just means the ratepayers aren't ripped-off to the same extent! However the Mayor of Doncaster has a very large hurdle in his path in the form of those Councillors whose removal of a nose from the trough will be anathema to them! Of course should they prove intransigent then the public has the chance to vote the greedy out of office and elect Councillors who agree with the Mayor .... maybe! One can only hope but knowing human nature, I feel that he has an uphill battle on his hands. Ever tried to get a pig away from a trough? Isn't easy!
However I wish him [and the Doncaster ratepayers] the best of luck!
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