15 March (Part 2) - Mayor’s No. 1 Fan doesn’t take orders
She just can’t stop herself; here’s another extract from one of Mayor Clark’s love letters to Nicholas Dowling…
Thank you for your email about the resent (sic) Council meeting. Had you listened
to my welcome speech you would have heard that it was a Budget Meeting and not an ordinary Council
Meeting, that there was no public participation or any facility for questions from the public.
There are, indeed standing orders to cover ALL aspects of the procedures at ALL meetings held
by the Council. Should you want to spend the time looking up the Council standing orders you may
wish to look at S.O.19(3), S.O.25(ii) and S.O.19(3). (sic repetition.)
So Nick stands accused of trying to participate in a Mayoral pantomime
from the wrong side of the orchestra pit
and sent away with his tail between his legs to read some boring old Standing
Orders. Unlike Citrine’s ABC they are not sitting in his book case ready to
throw back at the dame. What to do now Nick? In desperation he searches
Bexley’s website for salvation.
Standing Order19(3). No discussion shall take place upon
the minutes except upon their accuracy and any question upon their accuracy shall be
raised by motion pursuant to S.O.25(ii) below. If no such motion is raised, or if raised
then as soon as debate thereon has been concluded, the Mayor shall sign the minutes.
An extract from Standing Order 25(ii)…
INFORMAL MOTIONS WHICH MAY BE MOVED WITHOUT NOTICE
The following motions may be moved without notice…
(ii) That the minutes are or are not accurate,
in accordance with S.O.19(3) above.
So what do we have here then? It looks like we have a mayor behaving idiotically again. She
shuts Nick up at the meeting when he is trying to be helpful by bringing a mistake in the minutes to attention.
She then writes to him referring him to Standing Orders S.O.19(3) and S.O. 25(ii)
to back up her decision but it does no such thing. Corrections to minutes are
exempted. It looks like Standing Orders can be added to Citrine’s ABC of
Chairmanship as things the Mayor should have read and memorised but hasn’t.