2022 STC Annual General Meeting- it was bananas!
This year’s AGM of STC was bananas. Below are some interesting audio recordings and their analysis; however, topics that Labour Party councillors have avoided all year were again not discussed. For me, however, this AGM will go down in history for two critical reasons. The first reason is the circumstances surrounding the change of the Leader of the Leisure Committee. The second is the confirmation that the “old” Labour Party is afraid of the “new” Labour Party, so… anyway – you’ll read (and hear) about that below.
A small group of residents also turned up at the meeting. At the end of the article, I mention in a few words the topics they raised.
RIGGED ELECTION FOR CHAIR
Let’s start with the audio recording, and below I explain what happened:
So: STC starts the procedure to elect the Chair of STC for another term. This procedure begins with proposing candidates. Then, someone has to support this candidacy (seconded) and only then does the name appear on the “electoral list”.
Labour Councillor proposes Chris Kane. Then, another Labour Councillor asks if he can propose Carl Talbot. At this point, one of the “old” Labour can clearly be heard brazenly lying, saying, “no…. no… it’s too late now”. But, of course, it wasn’t too late at all, as this very moment was scheduled for nominations.
Someone ‘seconded’ the candidacy of the current Chair, and he did not hesitate and immediately proceeded to vote – you cannot have two candidates on the list! That is so unsocialist! Ignoring the legitimately proposed candidate, he announces the start of voting with one candidate on the list (himself). Like under Stalin, Lenin or Kim-Ir Sen: the current Leader is left alone on the list of candidates. Democracy! Labour style!
How do I see it? As if the “Labour old guard” were telling the new Labour councillors very ambiguously: shut up, youngster! You have to do what we ask you to do, vote as you were told in the meeting before the actual meeting. Or else.
The old guard needs the mediocre, the passive but the faithful, not those who question the enlightened leadership of Old.Same.Labour.
At first, I was very outraged by this situation. But then I thought, this is not my fight. Suppose the young in Labour want to change the town for the better. In that case, unfortunately, they need to stop listening to the lies of “Old” Labour and start fighting them politically. They are the ones who need to remove incompetent, incumbent, lazy councillors from power. Nothing will change for the better when power is held by those who have made a living and money from a lack of change. Changes are not in their interest. This is why there have been no changes in Shirebrook for years.
NEW/OLD STC LEADERSHIP LEGACY
Nevertheless, I will not hesitate to summarise the legacy of the new/old STC Leader. From my point of view and the documents, it appears that:
Shirebrook has the highest taxes in the District, 100% higher than any other parish council.
Shirebrook has the highest operating costs, 100% higher than any other council.
Shirebrook has the highest payroll expenditure, 100% more than any other council.
Shirebrook has the highest debt in the District, exceeding many times the debt of all other 15 Parish Councils combined.
STC has been promising CCTV for six years, and still, not a single camera has been installed.
Shirebrook has the highest crime rate in the District.
Shirebrook had the highest Covid “death rate” in the District.
Two Labour councillors were forcibly removed from STC.
Shirebrook had the lowest turnout for the 2019 local elections in our District.
And all of that in just a few recent years…
Bad things are happening in Shirebrook, and the worst thing is that many residents know it and do nothing to change it. This is truly sad.
Back to the rigged (in my opinion) election. Cllr Dale Smith and proposed Cllr Carl Talbot were not too happy with what happened. Let’s have a listen:
What is clear from this recording? Well, Labour had a meeting about the AGM earlier, and it appears that Dale Smith was manipulated at it. He used the word- “misled”. He was told something, and something else happened at the AGM meeting. Chris Kane and Steve Fritchley trying to damage control the situation by saying that they will discuss it after the meeting- just far away from recording devices. They will pacify the wayward councillor away from prying eyes and ears so that they continue to do what they have been doing for years- discourage involvement.
I wonder if the town debt and AMP scandal were discussed at these internal Labour Party meetings before STC meetings? That is something we will never know. One thing is for sure- the subject of debt was again not brought up—second Annual General Meeting in a row. The word “debt” is forbidden in the Labour Party vocabulary.
Finally, a word of advice to the young councillors in Labour: if you want to continue to sit on the STC, you must go to the Labour Party “select committee” meeting. Otherwise, you may find yourself in for an unpleasant surprise like previous Labour young councillors who looked too closely at the activities of Same.Old.Labour.
FIRST VICTIM OF AMP SCANDAL?
The most hedonistic committee in STC, the Leisure Committee, has a new head. It’s just my theory, but I suspect that the previous Leader had to step down because the AMP scandal showed how negligently she had handled her duties. From my point of view, it looks like the former Chair of LC had simply too many responsibilities – that’s how it is when you wear several hats at once (BDC councillor, STC councillor, Chair of STC LC, and probably some function in BDC).
For months AMP had been sending badly formatted and miscalculated invoices. There had been no change in meter readings for years. No one I’ve asked knows what quantity is, and those who should know don’t answer. I have been asking about this for a month and a half. This is the most striking example of a lack of scrutiny, oversight, and mismanagement in my short career as a councillor.
I am pleased, however, that I have achieved something on the AMP scandal issue.
In the words of the Chair of STC: “I already asked Leisure Centre manager and office staff here, to give me full report on all the figures.” Let’s hope that “figures” will also apply to “quantity” so that we can finally calculate how much heating actually costs. It’s a pity that my latest FOI request (sent on 29 April) was ignored by STC (by law, they have 21 days to respond- so STC broke the law; I sent a reminder today (29 May)).
Anyway, this is part of the change in the way STC has treated me since the publication of the article about AMP’s heating bills. Previously I used to get replies to all queries in a decent amount of time. However, since the AMP article- I have not received a response to any of my emails.
Isn’t it suspicious that the first denied FOI was about bills and the details of a contract with AMP? Let me be blatantly honest: this case is starting to stink so badly that for the first time, someone whose opinion I respect and take into consideration told me after reading the AMP article, “be careful”.
Ups!
I‘m sure I’m not in danger. Still, the mere fact that after watching the screenshots of the AMP invoices, someone important to me, someone wise and with deep life experience, tells me such a thing- speaks volumes.
I would further argue that there is a chance that the taxpayer is getting a good deal. The only problem I have with these bills are simple mathematical errors, a lack of information about what a quantity is and an explanation of how it is possible that heating costs more in the summer than in January.
One S247 reader has suggested that he thinks STC may be overpaying by up to 400% for pellets. I hope this gentleman is wrong. Imagine a hypothetical situation where the cost of heating your home is £100 per month. You, however, knowingly pay £400. Month in, month out. For years. You don’t ask questions; you don’t look for a cheaper supplier; you don’t look at your bills, and you don’t check your meter readings. Is this normal? Or is it more Labour style?
I am writing another article about the AMP scandal, so I will not go further into that subject here.
FINANCE & GROWTH COMMITTEE
As the only opposition representative, I asked if I could join the “Finance and Growth Committee”. At the beginning of my time in office, Labour councillors and the Town Clerk continually stressed that we should work together without regard to party affiliation in the Chamber. So if they were sincere, why was there such resounding silence in the Chamber when I asked if I could join this committee? Perhaps because Labour doesn’t want someone watching them ‘count’ the taxpayer’s money? Labour fanatics often point out that I only think about money. But the truth is that Labour thinks about money far more intensely than I do. The difference between us is that I think about how to save it, while Labour councillors think about spending it and raising taxes when it runs out again.
In conclusion– Labour does not want me on the Finance and Growth Committee. Who is surprised?
AMP SCANDAL VS AUDIT REPORT
So the audit of the accounts was voted through with one vote against – mine. Why did I vote against it? Because in the STC books, there are invoices from AMP in which, in my opinion, there are mathematical errors. Here is an example:
Labour voted through the audit results without reflection even though I had already signalled this a month ago. The second error is that the books do not show an increase in precept- yet Labour raised STC taxes by 4.06% this year. Another serious error.
“NO ONE KNOWS” COMMITTEE
The vote of some mysterious committee. I wanted to find out what I was voting on. Notice what happened in seconds 20 to 25 of this recording.
The Chair completely ignored my doubts. So I abstained from voting, as I always do when I do not know what I am voting on. Out of a sense of duty, I should add that Cllr Pauline Chapman came up to me after the meeting and explained what these mysterious committees were. I would be interested in listening to their proceedings. Still, I know that even if I knew when they were in session, I probably wouldn’t have time to do so. Generally, they are joint committees that coordinate STC activities with other organisations/authorities. I know- it sounds boring, but for me, it’s fascinating.
STC DEBT ROLL
STC has rolled over the debt again. A certain STC person signed documents, but the councillors were not informed. At the entire AGM, the word debt was not uttered once. Mockery.
END OF AGM
After the AGM, I tried to interest councillors in the document I mentioned – the one signed by someone on behalf of STC without informing STC itself. Nothing came of it. I was ignored. This is how the STC AGM 2022 ended.
As I promised at the beginning – here are a few words about what residents have mentioned.
RESIDENTS
The first resident raised the issue of nuisance neighbours whose dogs and general behaviour are causing problems for everyone in the area. The matter has been referred to the appropriate people at BDC, and the Chair of STC has assured that developments will be closely monitored. Here is an appeal to residents: if something is making life in your home unbearable, something is adversely affecting your wellbeing, physical or mental health, then it is often the case that no thought is even given to involving councillors in the matter. This is a mistake.
I have been on STC for over a year now, and while I often criticise Labour Party councillors for their policies and approach to “big picture” issues, I must emphatically point out that whenever a resident highlights a housing issue, the councillors help as best they can.
The second resident raised an issue that I was personally involved in: some time ago, I sponsored a project for young people in Shirebrook. The project and I, as a volunteer, were supervised by certified “youth workers” from the locally known organisation BLAST. A resident came to the meeting to express his displeasure at the fact that I was talking to ‘minors’ at the Leisure Centre.
To clarify: when I turned up at the Leisure Centre site, I was always accompanied by experienced youth workers from BLAST. BLAST took care of all the formalities such as contacting the police, consent forms and premises. Everyone who wanted to talk to us was given consent forms, and those who didn’t want to talk to us were left alone. Unfortunately, after a few weeks of trying to get the programme off the ground, I had to give up because youngsters who had initially expressed an interest in taking part stopped coming to the meetings as the weather got warmer.
A third resident began his speech by thanking the organisation for hosting various events. After this, he asked about electric vehicle charging points- from the response of one of the councillors, it appears that there is a plan to build such points in one of the parking in the centre of the town, but the development of this has been put on hold due to the company supplying the charging equipment. A resident also asked about plans for changes to Market Square. Following this, he asked that thanks be given to the Leisure Centre staff for their work.
After a round of praise and questions about the investment, the resident criticised the town’s information policy. He criticised the website, the lack of information for residents and the lack of a social media account. After that, he thanked for the efforts on the Crematorium investment (the decision on its location is still not made, so it is not a “done deal”). The resident suggested making this investment as green as possible by installing “onsite electricity generation” and especially wind turbines (due to its good location). The resident also thanked the councillors for their unpaid work for the town.
The resident also expanded on his thought, saying Labour councillors care about everything, while Conservative councillors only care about… money. It’s hard for me to comment looking at STC’s heating bills and knowing that STC charges 100% more tax than Bolsover, Clowne and South Normanton. Someone has to care about money, and as everyone knows: Labour approaches financial matters with extreme recklessness. Someone has to be this bad guy… Tony Blair was “good”, and we all know how it ended.
Concluding his speech, the resident pulled out an apple, an orange and a banana from a bag. He stated that although all of these things are fruit, it is impossible to compare them, just as it is impossible to compare the different councils in our area. I think he was trying to refer here to my series of articles comparing STC with other parish councils.
I don’t want to be too pinchy here, but I will. Looking from a botanical point of view (science!- an enemy of the left), a banana is not a fruit, but a berry. Nice speech but a small mistake in research. I will agree, however, that STC is bananas- take a look resident at one of the STC heating bills I presented above. Also, think of the huge debt that Labour is avoiding so much that they haven’t mentioned it once in a YEAR. Double bananas!
The resident said that comparing one council to another is a mistake because each is different (like fruits). There are different kinds of mistakes: it is a mistake to call a banana a fruit because it is a berry, but it is a small mistake. A big mistake would be to call a banana a skyscraper. It is the same with comparing Councils in our area. It is wrong to compare the Shirebrook to Whitwell. Still, the comparison to Bolsover, Clowne and South Normanton is most correct.
I assume that this resident is a voter of the left for whom ‘we are all winners’, and it is not right to give prizes to those who come first because it could hurt the feelings of those who come second. However, I believe that we should not only compare ourselves – we actually NEED to compare ourselves to others to know how we look. This is the only way to see if we are doing well compared to others and what we can improve. Spoiler alert: We are doing disastrously compared to other parish councils in the area.
Same District, same circumstances, same size townships. Yet we pay 100% more taxes, spend 100% more money on Council Staff, and the operating costs of STC alone are 100% more than any other council in the region. Something is not right here, dear resident. Something is bananas!
After the speech, the councillors responded to several issues. I only referred to the Crematorium (it seems to me that many residents are already taking this investment for granted when in fact, the decision has not yet been made) and the information policy. I invited him to the blog as it is the only source of information independent of the Labour Party about what is happening in STC. In response, the resident referred to my blog as “shit”.
With this positive note, we will end today’s article.
Sylwester Zwierzynski info@shirebrook247.com
