Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Moss
The Mayor is our representative in other boroughs and in my view it is worthwhile having one. The ribbon cutting, plaque unveiling, etc is quite an event for the people who are actually in attendance and most people are thrilled that the Mayor has come to open their fete or whatever. This is certainly true of the various Rishton organisations and The People's Centre are delighted that Cllr McCormack has agreed to be President of the Board and open their special coffee mornings. The Mayor also does incessant work raising money for local charities and there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes which is to the good of the borough. It is a very hard job and not for the fainthearted or those with a lack of time.
On the other hand, the politicising of the role in recent years brought the matter to Overview and Scrutiny and we drew up a Mayoral Constitution as a result. Regardless of who gets the position, you always run the risk of someone trying to twist his or her arm in the right direction but it is a post worth having on the council.
Can you imagine returning to the days of Council Leaders unveiling plaques?
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Would the people who get 'thrilled' by the Mayor's attendance, not be equally thrilled if their event had been opened by old Doris?
The old woman who lived in a shoe, who had spent her life quietly fostering 901 children, and who had been awarded the prize of being the symbolic first citizen by the readership of the local paper.
Quite frankly I don't have a problem with the system as it is, a reward for long standing councillors, because it works.
As for being thrilled by the position, that really depends on which councillor has been awarded the mayoral chains of office that year.
Some past mayors would leave most folks totally unthrilled by their presence.
