Thursday 9 July 2009

New Body In Newbury Environment Portfolio

With expenses and politician's second jobs under the spotlight West Berkshire's Conservative administration has been forced into a sudden reshuffle.

Despite being in the position for only 3 months Lead Councillor for the Environment, Speen's Markus Franks has been forced to stand down over potential conflict of interest issues after taking a job with Sovereign Housing Corporation.

Cllr Franks will be replaced by Chieveley's Cllr Hilary Cole.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous9 July 2009 at 19:01

    You imply they have done something wrong. He got a new job, it was a conflict of interest so is standing down from his current role.

    Absolutely the correct thing to do.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oranjepan9 July 2009 at 19:43

    Hello again Anon,
    I don't imply anything of the sort - if that's your reading of the story then it is your preconception which informs your opinion.

    What I do think is odd - in view of the debate to reduce councillor numbers in Reading - is that it shows the problems of a lack of forward planning, since such disruption doesn't help service provision.

    If there are fewer councillors and those that remain have conflicts of interest preventing them from holding certain roles, then why have any politically accountable representatives at all?

    If we support democracy (and taxation is only legitimised by voting), then we can't support it half-heartedly.

    If you support an army, public health care and economic intervention in any form then democracy is an essential component to ensure it functions properly.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9 July 2009 at 22:17

    I see what youre saying OJ, but you haven't said it very well.

    ReplyDelete

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