Election 2014 is over!

red sean

So the local election is over for another 5 years, a few new faces at the table, what changes do people expect to see?
Personally I think probably none. All the huffing and puffing is done, but experience tells me nothing will change.
What's ye're feelings?

Kettleson

I'd like to see accountability from day 1.

A website that details their promises/intentions/attendances at meetings etc.

The other side is (and I know from experience) that Councillors very often do a lot of community work/work for families that goes unnoticed/kept quiet for the right reasons.

Whatever their political affiliation, they all have a responsibility to work together on our behalf. They need to lobby on our behalf, not on their political leanings.

And its the responsibility of Sligo people to keep an eye on them.

They could start with this:

Automatic Medical Cards for all Children with serious illness:

http://www.ourchildrenshealth.ie/

red sean

Councillors have the same amount of clout when it comes to national issues as the rest of us! We should lobby our elected TD's as that is basically all councillors can do.
I should have made it clear in the op that I meant local government issues and not national ones.

I agree that most work done by councillors is community based and regularly is unknown to anyone else, and it's sad when someone who has been good at that loses their seat to someone going around the canvass telling people what they like to hear. Happens all over the country! Party politics really counts for sweet f*** all at local level!

We've heard their promises and we're at the mercy of their intentions! Their attendance at meetings would be a good idea on the CoCo website, though I'd say most will attend regularly as their expenses are also governed by attendance.

I'm open to correction on this, but I was told at the weekend that their main expenses for the last 5 years are all vouched for, and they get approx. 3k for incidental expenses.

For Forks Sake

Kettleson wrote: »

They could start with this:

Automatic Medical Cards for all Children with serious illness:

http://www.ourchildrenshealth.ie/

While noble, that's nothing to do with the job of a local councillor.

AllGunsBlazing

No more ill conceived cycle lanes. And perhaps the removal of some if we're lucky.

red sean

A lot of people on here were hoping for Seamus O'Boyle to be elected.
Now that he has , what change do you reckon he'll cause?
Likewise Marie Casserly.
Her after election speech to Ocean fm was poor, but at least she made one!

AllGunsBlazing

I wonder if seamie ever really believed he get elected himself tbh. There's not much he can achieve in isolation. All any of them can do is make sure that whatever money is available should not be frittered away on vanity projects as it has in the past.

The sad truth of the matter is that the horse bolted during the last term and now its a case of making some order out of the mess left behind.

I also see a few in there (or one in particular, I should say) that will probably treat the job as nothing more than a stepping stone to further their own political career. Have to keep the family dynasty going and all that.

Ham Sambo

Have to say a brilliant coverage of the local elections from Ocean fm over the weekend, a few surprises by that I mean winners and losers. Marie Casserly (ind) wiped the floor with Donal Gilroy (FF) and James Gilmartin (FG), all three candidates coming from within an asses roar of each other in Grange. Eamon Scanlon secured a seat, Lord knows how he did this, he was as useful as a chocolate fireguard when he was a TD, what makes him think he can do any better as a councillor??

Ham Sambo

red sean wrote: »

A lot of people on here were hoping for Seamus O'Boyle to be elected.
Now that he has , what change do you reckon he'll cause?
Likewise Marie Casserly.
Her after election speech to Ocean fm was poor, but at least she made one!

I don't know Seamus O'Boyle but he basically stand for people who want everything and pay for nothing

Kettleson

Is is possible to use the facility of Boards.ie to keep a chronological record of what our elected Councillors have officially stated they will do?

Ie: Referencing news articles, you tube videos, council meetings. We could if it would work, even reference one-to-one conversations, and letters, if they have been in an official capacity, and (our Boards.ie members) are prepared to go on record to state what was said in those conversations (although that might be entering into difficult waters) and if there are on legal issues/confidentiality issues relating to letters received in an official capacity. (I received one letter from a previous councillor which displayed that persons complete misunderstanding as to what I had (very clearly) contacted that councillor about).

Would I be prepared put a photo copy of that letter on boards.ie with the name tipex'ed out? I'm not sure. Would it be allowable, legal? Would this have the adverse effect of stopping Councillors sending letters to individuals, or would it make them more aware of any promises they are making? I'm just throwing this out there for discussion.

As part of my own work, and as a public citizen I have had many conversations (both on and off the record) with Councillors, and I must say that have been in general positive. So I'm not suggesting a witch hunt, more a reference point to keep us all focussed on what's going on.

For me Seamie O'Boyle was a protest vote. I previously knew very little about that man, and had never met him, but I liked where he was coming from and I have admired his achievements and having the bottle to get up and do something. I'd like to think as a citizen we could work 'with them' and not against them, but I also believe they should be held accountable for their work and be guided in the right direction to the benefit of the citizens of county Sligo, and not falling into political agendas.

Having said that, right now, I'm not sure exactly what our 'elected' should be doing, or exactly what that can do from a fiscal/monetary point of view.But as citizens, I think we all should have a responsibility to make our business to not allow another Lissadell fiasco to happen.

So throwing the idea out there. A thread on Boards could make their accountability more obvious? We could start with Election leaflets, You Tube Videos, references to Council Minutes, The Ocean FM debate..(it would be great if transcripts were available would be great.

I'm writing this on the move so apologies for any lack of clarity, but hope you get the general idea.

thebuzz

Is there any way of viewing a breakdown of councillors expenses, other than the usual end of year final amount?

I feel with the technology available these days it should be quite easy to have it viewable online for all to see. There is no reason for it to be private, I think every expense for each councillor should be available to the public so we can see what they are spending the taxpayers money on so they can be held accountable for each and every expense to ensure they are not taking liberties with the money.

red sean

I don't see any reason for that other than nosiness!
They're recompensed for money they spend in the course of their duties just like any other business. That's good enough for me.

Kettleson

red sean wrote: »

I don't see any reason for that other than nosiness!
They're recompensed for money they spend in the course of their duties just like any other business. That's good enough for me.

Are you serious? As an example, Veronica Cawley expenses last year were close to 90k. So whats that a month? And you are prepared to let that go unquestioned?

For F sake. I'm outta this thread.

red sean

Coucillors expenses are vouched for, as far as I'm aware. Therefore she has already proven to the CoCo finance dept. that she has spent this amount in the course of her CoCo duties.
Are you implying she did something wrong by claiming that amount? Because that's a dangerous thing to do on a public forum.
Wasn't she deputy mayor or deputy chair of the council? These jobs bring extra expense.

Before anyone accuses me of any connection to any councillor, let me say I have none. Nor am I a member of any political party!
However I can understand how someone would be loathe to go for election when people on public fora etc. openly suggest they're claiming dodgy expenses or suchlike practices.
If we treat councillors and TD's as covert criminals we'll never have any intelligent people to elect!

Kettleson

red sean wrote: »

Coucillors expenses are vouched for, as far as I'm aware. Therefore she has already proven to the CoCo finance dept. that she has spent this amount in the course of her CoCo duties.
Are you implying she did something wrong by claiming that amount? Because that's a dangerous thing to do on a public forum.
Wasn't she deputy mayor or deputy chair of the council? These jobs bring extra expense.

Before anyone accuses me of any connection to any councillor, let me say I have none. Nor am I a member of any political party!
However I can understand how someone would be loathe to go for election when people on public fora etc. openly suggest they're claiming dodgy expenses or suchlike practices.
If we treat councillors and TD's as covert criminals we'll never have any intelligent people to elect!

I am implying nothing and certainly not suggesting "dodgy expenses or suchlike practices" as you have called them. I was merely echoing The Buzzs' post which suggested "viewing a breakdown of councillors expenses" which you dismissed as "nosiness". Councillors are paid from public finances are they not? If we don't ask for closer accountability who else will? The current system may be "good enough" for you, but it certainly isn't good enough for many others.

I am not implying any wrong doing, we do however in general need value for money. I stated in my post that I used her expenses as an example. My point is that in general, there needs to be clarity and transparency with all public expenditure. She said it herself in an interview on Ocean FM that the publication of her expenses very likely had an adverse effect on her vote, which in my opinion was regrettably unfair.

Kettleson

From "Sligo Today" 03/06/14

"The new office of Mayor of Sligo will have its annual allowance slashed by seventy percent.

The ten members of the new Sligo Municipal District will learn that their Mayor's annual allowance has been cut to €12,000 per annum, barely above the dole rate.

Previously, the Sligo Borough Council's top post carried an annual allowance of €37,500.

The Deputy Mayor of Sligo will now receive just €2,400 per annum under the new arrangement.

The payment for the post of Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council has also been severely culled.

The Sligo Chair will receive just €20,000 per annum, with a higher figure in bigger Councils such as Donegal".


"Under further new arrangements details of councillors expenses will be published online every three months.

The annual allowance to councillors for conferences etc will be cut from €4,700 to €700.

Travel and subsistence is being withdrawn if councillors attend conferences outside their own region in Ireland".

thebuzz

I thought the role of Mayor was being abolished altogether?

Good news about the expenses being published as I'm aware of previous abuse of expenses in the past, and to suggest it is out of nosiness is ridiculous. For too long a blind eye was turned to things in this country and there's no reason for people not to be held accountable for public spending.

rizzodun

I'm guessing those figures for Mayor and Deputy are on top of their council salary, still not a bad top up if you ask me.

How much is the salary for a Councillor nowadays? I think it's about €35k?

red sean

rizzodun wrote: »

I'm guessing those figures for Mayor and Deputy are on top of their council salary, still not a bad top up if you ask me.

How much is the salary for a Councillor nowadays? I think it's about €35k?

I think it's around 16k. Could be wrong.

rizzodun

red sean wrote: »

I think it's around 16k. Could be wrong.

Can't find a solid figure, the figure I had may have included expenses, there wasn't a breakdown, still, €16k a year isn't too bad for a part time job, and it nearly doubles if your mayor?

If it's €16k is that a drop on previous years? I suppose we'd need a solid figure to see if it's value for money.

red sean

The wage may be ok for a part-time job that has particular working hours, but to be honest, I wouldn't do it for that!

I know a lady who was an independent poll topper for 2 consecutive elections, (not Sligo) and stood down this time.
The last straw for her was being called to reception at her sisters wedding to sign a form for a constituent. The constituent had the form for 3 weeks before that and did nothing about it. When she pointed this out, she was told 'thats what we're paying you for'.

She was also fed up of snide comments being made within earshot of her or her family about the expoenses she received even though she swore she's still out of pocket.
That's why I say the itemised expenses is not the business of the electorate, it just gives more cannon fodder to the morons who abuse people in public life.

99% of all politicians are decent people, but we now like to tar them all with the same brush as Haughey, Lawlor, Burke etc.

rizzodun

red sean wrote: »

The wage may be ok for a part-time job that has particular working hours, but to be honest, I wouldn't do it for that!

I know a lady who was an independent poll topper for 2 consecutive elections, (not Sligo) and stood down this time.
The last straw for her was being called to reception at her sisters wedding to sign a form for a constituent. The constituent had the form for 3 weeks before that and did nothing about it. When she pointed this out, she was told 'thats what we're paying you for'.

She was also fed up of snide comments being made within earshot of her or her family about the expoenses she received even though she swore she's still out of pocket.
That's why I say the itemised expenses is not the business of the electorate, it just gives more cannon fodder to the morons who abuse people in public life.

99% of all politicians are decent people, but we now like to tar them all with the same brush as Haughey, Lawlor, Burke etc.

I wasn't implying they were all crooks, I can see your point, especially out of hours type situations like you mentioned, I do think expenses should be more transparent though, maybe not itemised for every single thing but perhaps over a certain value. In particular to Sligo with the end result successive councils have left us in some people could argue they've done quite well out of it.
I'm not one for abusing public figures but I would make my feelings known, they're there to provide a voice for the people who elected them, there has been an incredible lack of accountability in the council in the last few years IMO. Maybe if they were in the private sector they wouldn't have held onto a similar position as long?
This doesn't just go for the elected officials, the staff in the councils should share the blame.

SPM1959

Ham Sambo wrote: »

I don't know Seamus O'Boyle but he basically stand for people who want everything and pay for nothing

Disagree. Seamie received hundreds of votes from ordinary tax paying workers in Sligo and stands for them.

red sean

I think people are getting all hot and bothered about councillors expenses when in fact the biggest waste or possible waste of money is actually in the employed section of the council.
I think there's need for more transparency in how money is spent in depts. such as roads,water,engineering, planning etc. Not to mention the tendering, receiving and carrying out of contracts.
And also, the overall streamlining of services to benefit the public rather than the highly paid officials.

rizzodun

red sean wrote: »

I think people are getting all hot and bothered about councillors expenses when in fact the biggest waste or possible waste of money is actually in the employed section of the council.
I think there's need for more transparency in how money is spent in depts. such as roads,water,engineering, planning etc. Not to mention the tendering, receiving and carrying out of contracts.
And also, the overall streamlining of services to benefit the public rather than the highly paid officials.

Hear hear, one of the questions I asked canvassers who called was about the cycle lanes up by cemetery road, they all said they would have to be redone, but no-one could tell me how they addressed the cock up. If I made a mistake costing thousands of Euro I'm pretty sure I'd be looking over my shoulder. Maybe someone has been held accountable but it definitely doesn't seem that way from the impressions that is given. Council staff need to be aware its our money they're playing with.

shanec1928

rizzodun wrote: »

Hear hear, one of the questions I asked canvassers who called was about the cycle lanes up by cemetery road, they all said they would have to be redone, but no-one could tell me how they addressed the cock up. If I made a mistake costing thousands of Euro I'm pretty sure I'd be looking over my shoulder. Maybe someone has been held accountable but it definitely doesn't seem that way from the impressions that is given. Council staff need to be aware its our money they're playing with.

the person in charge of Sligo Borough Council-Parks was the one who ruined the place with those stupid cycle lanes. she still works for the council so i assume nothing was done about it.

cranresident

Ham Sambo wrote: »

I don't know Seamus O'Boyle but he basically stand for people who want everything and pay for nothing

Thats a very unfair remark! Talk about stereotyping with very little evidence