A former colleague’s Avatar is just not suitable. The dilemma, therefore, is do I tell them, and risk creating a rift, or stay silent, allowing them to continue with their embarrassing choice.
A similar dilemma rests upon my shoulders regarding the Local Government Association (LGA) “Corporate Peer Challenge” report.
It found that the “complex environment that the council operates in, throws up tensions that are holding things back”.
Put simply, this describes how our residents are receiving poorer services than they deserve.
The report found that “dysfunctional” relationships within the council need to be “reset” and that this could only be achieved with external help.
I have called repeatedly for this to happen but, to date, the Labour administration have ignored my pleas.
The most obvious display of these worsening relationships can be seen in the disruption with rubbish collection, which has led to unwarranted stress for the workers and, as predicted in the LGA report, a poor service for many residents.
Conservatives locally have a very good working relationship with both the council’s management and trade unions but over the last few months it has been clear that all is not well within Cityclean.
Staff and residents have had enough and local Conservatives have moved to fill the vacuum created by an imploding Labour administration.
This will be noticeable over the coming months as initiatives, driven by local Conservatives, will come before councillors that seek solutions to the problems.
I have also called for the Labour Party to discuss these issues with me – implementing the “external reset’, and even providing extra funds for Cityclean if it can help with the urgently needed restructuring.
To do this I will need to break with a few deep-held party views and work together with those moderate Labour councillors who wish to find some workable solutions for the benefit of their residents – and who frankly deserve better.
This will be embarrassing for them, while their hard-left colleagues continue to wreck any attempt to do so, but it needed to be said.
Nobody can say that, these days, local politics is boring.
Councillor Tony Janio is the leader of the opposition Conservatives on Brighton and Hove City Council.
Labour’s problems began with that absurd Vote of No Confidence which cllr Morgan brought a few years ago. He was allowed to “win” it to see what he would then do – which was… nothing. That not only set the tone for his Adminstration but created lasting soured relations between the Labour councillors and others. All this was compounded by his continuing desire to close down the Carnegie Library, a strong factor in creating a Council which is in palpable disarray.
It seems that many of my acquaintances share my own views that “politics” is getting in the way of running councils properly, not just Brighton and Hove either. When you add the apparent lack of customer service thinking within the council offices the result is that nothing much seems to get done properly, efficiently or in a timely manner. Too much reliance is placed on consultations and committees but still nothing gets done afterwards. Councils and councillors (whichever political party they support) are there to run a community on behalf of, and for the good of, the residents, not to satisfy their own particular aspirations or opinions.
The same can be said of many organisations today where there are too many managers who don’t have a clue how to manage, just measure. This antagonises the workforce who don’t feel their needs, or that of the organisations, are being met or even considered.
Sorting out this type of situation becomes more difficult as time passes because entrenched views prevent opposing groups from working efficiently together.
Chris, please stop making sense. You clearly don’t understand how comments work. We can’t have people like you coming out with sensible observations.
Comments are for the ranting screaming loonatics to shout and bicker and ignore each other… bit like the council itself.