I will ignore Mr Watt-Ruffell's dubious history as a Labour Cllr and not ask the question as to how on earth and why , NTCA ever thought him suitable material to be a Cllr for The Conservative Party and then be elected Mayor by them within Margate Charter Trustees, put him on Planning, make him Chief Whip, have him as Vice Chair of Licensing and protect him in the Rocca fiasco but will instead remind readers that as a Labour Deputy Mayor he did the decent thing a few years ago and resigned when he had a little difficulty with The Magistrates here in Thanet.
So where do we stand now? It has been pointed out to me that, as it had been assumed historically that only fine, respectable members of the Council are elected Mayor and even used to be automatically invited to be JPs, there is no way The Margate Charter Trustees can remove this man who has brought his historic office into disrepute. So I ask Mr Watt-Ruffell who has brought enormous shame on himself and his Office as Mayor, to not be weasely (as IOTG Editor today so aptly described him) but to RESIGN! Press releases that talk about ' intending to step aside' are just not good enough.
Whilst he is contemplating this, he might also like to consider the fact that his electorate in Dane Valley Ward do not want to be represented by a man with a criminal conviction for animal cruelty and I thus urge him to RESIGN as a TDC Cllr. The electorate was abandoned by Cllr 'Panama' Broadhurst but would now be delighted if its disgraced Cllr at TDC went and joined him.
Some interesting snippets have been brought to my attention by our Reporter at Sittingbourne on Wednesday, that I edited for brevity's sake but are now worth considering. It would seem that it was pointed out to him by The Magistrates that if he refused the Medium Term Community Order on the grounds of his Mayoral duties and charity fund-raising, the alternative would be 12 weeks as a custodial sentence. It is also interesting that his solicitor informed the Court that his client was in receipt of Legal Aid and had a declared income of £19,000.
Now I do not know what the Legal Aid threshold is currently set at but for some-one who does a 48 hr week with Probe Security ( ex-Cllr Broadhurst's firm), he might like to ask for a pay rise! Why you might well ask? Simply because his allowances for responsibilities as Mayor and in TDC attract the following deemed and declarable income: Mayor (£11,400); Cllr (£4,500) and Vice Chair of Licensing (£900). This would appear to be a total of £16,800. Clearly something appears odd or does Probe Security really pay its Chief Security Officer less than £2 per hour?
I leave Mr Watt-Ruffell with the thought that he still has the opportunity to do the decent thing and resign with immediate effect as Mayor and resign as a Dane Valley Ward Cllr. If not the cry 'For God's sake go!' will reverberate around Thanet and the 'healing' process cannot begin.
17 comments:
he is a much better man than you
he has more guts then you will ever have
you are so sad i hope he stays just to get up you nose you get so much wrong again i hope he stays and see his term out
I have replied to your other comment on 'Report from Sittingbourne etc' and I hope you will appreciate what I have written and consider it.
21;27, what has Bertie got wrong exactly?
Resigned in disgrace as Labour Deputy Mayor because of unpaid fines. True.
Disgrace to both parties. True.
Should resign if he had any honour? True.
Will see his term out because it suits the Tory Charter Trustees. True.
Come on fella, get a grip. Ted Ruffell has been used by the Ezekiel Junta and is now no futher use to them other than to keep the chair warm for the next incumbant. And we all know who that will be!
One day, the Chater Trustees will do something for the people of Margate. But like the rest of the population, I'm not holding my breath; only my nose!
Anonymous 21.27 you are either Mr. Watt-Ruffell or a very close family member suffering from both short and long-term memory loss if you think he is a better man than Bertie, a man of courage and conviction who left NTCA on a point of principle.
There are many who know a great deal about the person you seem to support but prefer to hope he has the guts to do the honourable thing and resign. Should he not do so then more facts will emerge giving us the full story. Perhaps those who have more up their collective sleeves have some thought for his family and wish to protect his children from unpalatable truths.
There's a lot more going on here than meets the eye Bertie. There's still time for Thanet Tories to get on the right side of this story. That means official press releases, unequivocal condemnation and apologising for appointing someone they had repeatedly been warned about.
I could not agree more, Mark. The straws in the wind became bales and now resemble haystacks. I am a tad disappointed that there has not been the action you describe. The problem is of course 'The Ezekiel' factor. I suspect that there are a few Conservative members of TDC who are looking aghast at this unravelling situation.
Someone should tell Mr Watt-Ruffell that 'Cats in Crisis' have a base in his ward?
I wonder if Anon 21.27 could tell me which way Watt-Ruffell voted some years ago when Charter Trustees ended public funding of Kent Adventure Training Corps ?
After the War and Peace Show of 1999 witness account was sent to Lord Greville Janner. It described holocaust denial lecture activity to pseudo military cadets in a marquee which appeared to be behind a book sales stall.
Some time later questions were raised with Rex Cadman of IMPS the shor organisers.
Now I cannot claim a cause and effect relationship but wasn't it shortly after that IMPS ended its sponsorship of KATC ?
I confess to some surprise that Sandy Ezekiel (with his known pugilistic inspiring sensitivities on the subject) has never asked Watt-Ruffell about the history.
Although it is pure hypothesis I wonder if such a conversation would go:
"Well yes I voted to carry on funding the group Sandy"
THWAK.
That would be one for the kitten.
Why is Simon Moores now the spokesperson for NTCA?
We all know that Eze-kill is intending to be mayor for the next season 2010/11, so is Moores now making a pitch for the Leaders job when Sandy stands aside in May?
moores's blog is deadly silent, he must be away
Good old Cromwell exclaimed: "For God's sake, go!". Perhaps we should add "and go now Ted".
Just to be clear Bertie, I'm the spokesperson for the Conservative Group and not the NTCA.
On Friday, I was given a statement for release and personally called the local media to give this to them to avoid any equivocation over its contents.
You may also find that my number is a missed call on your phone as you were not at home and you may have noticed that I also spoke to Michael Child of the Thanet Online Blog.
Sometimes, it's far better to communicate directly rather than simply send out a covering press release as I'm sure you will agree.
Actually I've been busy, flying among other things! It's Valentine's weekend and there are proposals to do!
Thanks for that clarification Cllr Moores, my apologies. Afraid I am not very technical so didn't spot missed call. The news was never the less very welcome.
Having Ezee-kill in an impotent and politically dead post like mayor is better than having him as leader of the council.
15.05, I feel that I have had need to edit your comment, I am afraid.
Anonymous said...
Mr Watt-Ruffel you really wouldn't recognise what honourable meant if it came and bit you on the nose. You should not have been allowed to resign you shaould have been sacked for the spineless vindictive cruel man that you are. You should not be able to hold any public position and should immediately be removed form the Mayors Chamber and the seat of Councillor removed.
The people of Thanet do not want you to represent them atall - so get out and stay out.**********.
17 February 2010 15:05
Please remember that he has resigned as mayor has resigned from the Conservative Party and been punished by the Courts. His employment as a security firm employee may also be affected. Whilst I know that animal cruelty issues arouse hot passions and anger, quite rightly so, perhaps it is time to realise that the price paid in atonement has been high. I believe that this matter will not be laid to rest though until he resigns as a TDC Cllr and then makes a fresh start and have advised him so.
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