Terry Nunn
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,305
26 August 2010
22:0367320Oh dear Howard, look at what you started!
Terry
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
26 August 2010
22:0867325i did so in all innocence as things were quiet terry.
reminds me of that infant school joke "why did the suasage roll, because it saw the apple turnover".
i notice that paul the fuhrer has kept out of this.
26 August 2010
22:0967326Jan, with all due respect I think you've got your sums wrong. £5k pa = £100 per week to cover ALL councillors, so in reality we are probalby only looking at about £5-£10 each per week tops. That's why Howard quite rightly dismisses the DE report, and I support his view.
Keith, I hope you are right mate. Labour needs to return to its core left-wing socialist values soonest. Hopefully the Mill by the Floss Brothers can acheive that, and then the party will become totally unelectable. Bring it on!
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,835
26 August 2010
22:1867341Sid...
I just used the figure that JHG gave " a Cllrs basic is just over £3000 a year!". I assumed this was each.
As you can tell I am not one of the 'in crowd'
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
26 August 2010
22:2167344jan
the 60 notes a week is an allowance, expenses are a different issue.
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,835
26 August 2010
22:3367348Exactly!
An allowance is their pocket money which could pay for a sandwich or are our councillors all on the breadline the poor things.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 648- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 258
26 August 2010
23:0167355Jan ,
Reading another thread stating some people must sit at their computers all day .Well that is why Councillors are paid amere £75 .Most of our paper work is now sent via computer .Each morning I check my Emails ,again during the day if I have been out and always before I go to bed .Emails from residents usually mean a follow up to a Council Department or a phone call.Tonight I was busy watching TV suddenly realised there was smoke drifiting across the Garden ,so when I spied where the smoke was coming from I rushed out to ask why the bonfire was going on a wet night .
Where I live there are several elderly people not including Vic of course and they have complained to me about these bonfires being lit .
I get people ringing me up asking for telephone numbers or bus times .
I would make a sandwich before I left for a meeting however I dont usually eat before a council meeting .When you have to sit for three to four hours its not good .The subsistence is £8 approx so I think that explains why a few sandwiches are provided .We are not allowed to take hot drinks into the meetings so sip water .
I wonder how many cups of coffee our reporters drink a day whilst sitting at their desks ???Im not on the breadline but the old state pension is not much as I did not work much after my children were born so I did not pay into a pension scheme .
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,835
26 August 2010
23:4967357Sue...
Are you on executive allowance or did you transpose the numbers.
You are a pensioner so am I. I did not pay into a pension scheme for the same reason as yourself, luckily my husband did.
You work as a councillor and have done for a long time no doubt claiming your allowances and expenses I suppose. I work 16 hours, sometimes more when we are shorthanded, a week as a volunteer in the shop that helps to keep Riverside open.
If you can't eat before your meeting you could do the same as I do and take a sandwich with you. We do not get our meals provided, in common with most work places as I said before, and we are volunteers.
This rather puts things into perspective I think.
You do not have to be a councillor and I do not have to be a volunteer we do it because we choose to.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
26 August 2010
23:4967358Why should councillors who partake of refreshments not make a contribution towards the cost? After all, if they were not going to the meeting they would still have to eat (at their own expense).
PG.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Guest 652- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 595
27 August 2010
01:2367359councillors whether they are pensioners or not, still have to pay their taxes like everyone else, so in a way are already contributing towards these buffets. A lot of DTC councillors for-go their allowance of £450 a year, so surely a biscuit, or a few sandwiches here and there is OK
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,888
27 August 2010
07:4667367SHIELA
Cup of tea and a custard cream each(maybe even a packet lol) quite enough.
By the way sheila understand you had visit to hospital hope all went well
k
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Guest 648- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 258
27 August 2010
08:0867371Jan Im no longer on the excutiveof DDC .Community Councillors recieve just over £300 per month approx £75 a week .We can claim travel expenses but I use the bus most times .Howard you started something here .I would add that food bill covers 45 councillors plus officers who service the meetings .
It is not always a buffet some meetings we have a packet of sandwiches which cost a £1 When i was on the Excutive and attended more meetings I bought a sandwich from the trolley.If you have back to back meetings food is not provided .
I pay tax on my allowance and I have always given the people I represent a full days work ..
27 August 2010
08:4667372#26 indicates that local press are not aware of some events. Isn't that their job? To find out and not wait on their bums to be told?
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
27 August 2010
09:1367373don't forget they are not based in dover anymore, hence the need for things like fetes, jumble sales etc would not come to their attention.
Guest 660- Registered: 14 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,205
27 August 2010
09:3167374Here is an example of meetings,on Thursday I am at a meeting at 16.30 followed by another at 18.00 and I will be there until 8pm although the meeting will no doubt go on longer,then jump on my bike cycle home get changed into my work stuff,grab a bag and off to my real job at 9pm until 06.30 in the morning.
Someone has asked why we do it,for the money or the buffet,no way,I do it because I care about my ward,my Town and my District.
I had decided not to stand again and was flooded with people asking me not to stand down,not just my political friends in my group,but general people in the street and including some Cllrs on the opposite side.After thinking about it for a long while the reason why I wanted to give it up was the amount of time spent helping people and not having time to do what I would like to do.But then I realised it is not about me,it is about the people I serve,and by changing things around I can still do that,but I can tell you I dont do it for the money,or the buffet!
Now it is up to my selection panel to choose if they want me to stand again!
If you knew what I know,we would both be in trouble!
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
27 August 2010
09:3367376i don't know how you find the time for your shenanigans john.
27 August 2010
09:4267378howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
27 August 2010
10:5767386i did wonder why he keeps getting elected.
must be the female vote.
Guest 693- Registered: 12 Nov 2009
- Posts: 1,266
27 August 2010
11:1967389Howard's post (#54) about the press not being in Dover any longer makes no sense to me; are Folkestone & Deal internet-free zones, then? I've taken over the LRCF press stuff and have Kathy Bailes, Yam Zenderai, Graham Tutthill and Mathew Beech (new guy @ KOS Media) on the mailing list for most of the stuff we put out.
Hopefully, you'll have seen quite a bit more LRCF coverage as a result - the Dover Express, notably, have been extremely supportive of the tosh I chuck at them (thanks, Kathy!), so my guess is that they will do their best to get stuff in the papers if they're being kept in the picture. Like all facets of life, they're under pressure from the same amount of work having to be covered by fewer hands, so it makes sense to give them any news you might have on a plate.
It doesn't take a lot to keep people informed, and if you do, they'll generally come through for you.
True friends stab you in the front.
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,835
27 August 2010
11:2167390Ok I give in.
I will just add that £75 plus expenses is about £20 more than a carer gets a week for providing 24 hour care which would be another debate.
. Perspective again I am afraid.
I have not changed my mind about the "sandwiches and sausage rolls" arguement but I am obviously outnumbered by the 'inner circle'
who use the Forum.
What I am suprised about is the lack of response from some of the more vocal members on here. Are you all away or keeping quiet so you do not offend your friends.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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