Bexley
borough seems to be nicely stitched up by its ruling classes; they are
not only able to arrange anything they like to favour themselves whether it be
amending their Constitution to shield themselves from questions,
call on the
police to crack down on anyone that dares to criticize them, or place themselves
in positions where taxpayers money just happens, by an enormous fluke which they
are powerless to avoid, to rain down on them. So you have
councillor Davey
picking up cash from the health authority and freely indulging his love of art
as chairman of the council funded Bexley Arts council. No protest at Craske’s vandalism of the William
Morris fountain though. Councillor John Waters just happens to be on
the
receiving end of the the Early Years grants doled out by Bexley council on
behalf of the government. Lucky him.
Some councillors have as many as 20 appointments to local bodies, not all
paid by any means but presumably they help raise profiles; though how
much time is available for each after attending to a full time job and the
occasional council meeting is questionable. Some of the councillors’ full time jobs are quite
impressive and so are their property portfolios.
There are 53 Conservative councillors in Bexley, twelve being married couples,
so that makes 47 houses you might think. The true figure doesn’t quite reach twice
that but 80 is close. Councillor couples are both councillors and both may exercise
the power that goes with the position but other spouses are not without
influence. Councillor Read has
a wife who works in the
council office with power to refuse questions. It may not be illegal but like
everything about Bexley council it can at best be described as dubious.
Everyone who has perused The Guardian’s job vacancy columns is familiar with the
non-jobs that councils employ. The
biodiversity officers, the people I’ve watched measure advertisements in shops
etc. I’m not sure if a PE and Sports Liaison
Officer falls into the non-job category but Bexley has one. We can’t afford to
get disabled kids to school and we can’t afford to fully fund disabled adults
either but we can apparently afford to employ someone to assist the
able-bodied
with their pursuits. More than a week ago the Bexley Times did
a pretty comprehensive report on Bexley’s PE and Sports Liaison Officer and not
being a sporty person myself I could barely make head nor tail of it; except for
one thing. The holder of the post is Julie Fuller of Chessington Avenue. The
address sounded familiar and a quick check showed my memory has not
entirely gone yet. Guess who else lives at that address?
As I’ve said, nothing illegal, but everywhere we have councillors and their
families neatly placed in a favourable position and on a nice little earner; except
councillor Katie Perrior of course who
“sadly isn’t rich”. Yeah right,
company director and co-founder of the public relations company that ran Boris Johnson’s mayoral
campaign and she cannot survive without her £22,615 councillor’s allowance.