10 June (Part 1) Petition to council
The people planning to run a petition to Bexley council asking for a debate
on the very high salaries paid to senior council staff with a view to
changing their contracts have told me they are close to finalizing their
proposals. As I see it their plan could run into an enormous obstacle, the fact
that Bexley council is undemocratic and will most likely do all in its power to
block any views residents might express.
Bexley council’s stated position on petitions is recorded in the very first sentence of their
documentation. “The council welcomes petitions and recognises they are one way in which people can
highlight any concerns they may have.” This is the standard gloss put over their
true attitude to democracy. Buried in the same document is "The council will not
take action on any petition which we consider to be vexatious, abusive or
otherwise inappropriate”. In other words any petition the council does not like
the look of may be ruled out of order as “inappropriate”.
The jack boot approach to democracy is to be expected of a council which has
changed its Constitution to try to put a stop to probing questions. I see little
future for any plan to organise a petition on salaries
when leader Teresa O’Neill says they represent “good value for money”. Unless an
agreement can be reached on the wording of the petition before 2,000 residents
add their signature to it, she will likely declare it “inappropriate” and bin
it. The last thing O’Neill will want is someone questioning her judgment on
salaries. 2,000 people could be reported to the police for harassing our dear leader!