It appears the local paper's rebuke to politicians in Calamity Hall for holding the Welsh LA record for ratting on each other didn’t just fall on stony ground but also got stamped on for good measure. Our assessment comes from a small batch of recently received e-mails that dish the dirt with pre-election relish.
One lengthy essay calls on us to endorse plans by independents to censure a Labour councillor for showing undue zeal in favour of a planning application. Pass. A couple of near identical notes claim opposition backbenchers intend naming a cabinet member who is supposed to have an undeclared interest in a recent procurement deal. There are also those persistent rumours of photographic evidence showing that someone has been very naughty over his mobility claims.
No-one even bothers to pretend any more that this rabid culture of mutual denunciation has anything to do with desire to raise standards. Why should they? Like it or not, allegations of bad judgement, bad behaviour or just plain skulduggery are standard tools in politics. They tend to be over-used and with varying success in Swansea but they are an indelible part of the package that shifts the moral high-ground back and forth ad litem.
The current local blood feud can be traced back to cynical Lib Dem use of the local government watchdog to deter whistle-blowing about a deal handed to the former leisure boss for an early retirement & pension in exchange for going quietly. Political payback was inevitable. The reciprocal stuff gained a new momentum when Rene Kinzett took his tory group out of the ruling cabal and started throwing his own rocks with mixed results.
Having said that, there is also a grudging admiration for the effort and creativity that the tory group leader is prepared to devote to formulating his complaints – especially his perceived cornering of the chief executive to validate an allegation of ‘votes for sale’. Given the council’s existing record, it is a safe assumption that demand for Swansea’s head of paid service to act as an unwilling arbiter in tricky governance issues is set to grow.
We suspect that one such conundrum headed his way is a query as to whether council funds were used to foot the bill for a recent Lord Mayor’s tea at the Mansion House organised at the request of two Lib Dem councillors - and whether all members will be afforded a similar opportunity to provide sweeteners recognition events for constituents before next May’s elections.
3 Comments:
You need to keep up to speed. Ioan has been repaying favours to his Lib Dem buddies since last May. Quite a few freebies for his allies held to date, I'm told.
you also need to get your facts right on the role of cllr k
What facts are those? Would it be that Rene just got himself unanimously reselected to fight Mayals ward?
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