Sources have informed me that it is that time of year for Margate Charter Trustees ( Margate Ward Cllrs) to decide on who will be Margate's New Mayor for 2009/2010 to be a successor to George Yates Hunter who was elected as our first Mayor in 1857.
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Some may well feel that a Mayor is an anachronism in 2009, but I am all for retaining a bit of tradition and pomp and circumstance. For those who would like a little more information, please go and visit: www.margate.org.uk/index.php?page=home .
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Here is a lovely extract about the Mayor's role from that Margate Charter Trustees site:
"In reality however the Mayor is an ambassador for the town and undertakes hundreds of functions of public relations and of a charitable nature during a year in office. Today the same importance is attached to the election of Mayor as has been for hundreds of years, although the powers of the Town Mayors are more limited than of old. In the case of Margate, the former borough was created in 1857, when the first Mayor was elected."
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My sources tell me that Cllr Ted Watt-Ruffell is in the frame for our next Mayor with his fellow Dane Park Ward Cllr, Michael Jarvis as his deputy. Forgive me for being suprised at this information but if my memory serves me well wasn't Cllr Watt-Ruffell the Labour Deputy Mayor that IOTG reported on a few years ago and had to stand -down? Is it the same Cllr that Labour would not allow to stand for them after 2003? Why was that? I assume that before Margate Charter Trustees take a vote they will have made enquiries into any candidate for the post? After all, should HM The Queen head this way, it is our Mayor who greets and welcomes her on the Margate boundary.
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This little snippet gives some idea of the status of our past Mayors:
"At one time a Mayor was, by virtue of his office, a Justice of the Peace and as such was required to take an Oath of Allegiance. This is no longer so but in many places this custom survives and such an Oath is still taken at Margate."
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My understanding is that at the moment, Conservative Cllrs effectively run Margate Charter Trustees, as our Labour Cllrs have boycotted meetings for some reason or another. So Watt-Ruffel could well be selected to be 'Our Ambassodor', as he is reputedly an Ezekiel 'man' and what with working for Cllr Broadhurst as his Chief of Security and with TDC a 'client', he has all the right connections as well as having been NTCA Chair! But heaven help us if that is Margate Charter Trustees ( Margate Conservative Cllrs) decision!
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The guy I feel doesn't have a chance at Deputy Mayor is Michael Jarvis, despite rumours to that effect. He seems to be a principled Cllr who as a Planning Member caused 'problems' with other principled Tories last year at a China Gateway Planning referral and incurred the 'wrath' of The Leader. I should imagine a 'safe' Ezekiel supporter will get the post.
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We wait and see what The Margate Charter Trustees decide. I suspect that whatever Cllr Ezekiel has in mind will be the outcome; after all his wife is the Mayor's PA and can keep him posted on what the future incumbent is up to.
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P.S. I have been reliably informed that TDC's 'Ghost' Councillor Broadhurst is back in town, so Watt-Ruffell has his other boss batting for him and perhaps for Ezekiel in the Conservative Leader election next week?
27 comments:
You couldn't make it up - better than a West End farce.
I'm sure that the Chairman of the Westgate Resident's Association will be able to make a suitable statement of fortitude on behalf of Mr Ruffell!
I seem to remember an old mathematics mnemnonic; change sides; change signs.
It must now be in Thanet; change sides, change nothing!
Except of course that Labour introduced CRB checks for their Councillors.
How the hell can the Tory party promote a recent 'turncoat' and someone with a dubious heritage, to such a position?
Oh dear, I forgot. Turncoat in position of Chair of planning. So there is a precident!
Fact. Watt-Ruffell, or Ruffell as he was then; had to stand down as a Labour Councillor because of outstanding fines. Not a nasty comment. A fact.
So why have the Tory party now brought him in so tightly?
It would appear that the local Tory party is full of other party's rejects!
Gregory, ex Labour. Watt-Ruffell, ex Labour. Moores, ex SDP, ex Labour!
Why do they all suddenly become Tory in Thanet? Some sort of Epiphany moment as they travel the road into Thanet?
A sudden enlightenment?
Anyone who knows Cllr Ruffells ex will know that she has several very interesting stories to tell about the wonderful Mr Watt-Ruffell!
I am sure that she can be persuaded to talk to a certain gentleman of the press!
Stand by for next weeks local weekend news broadcast!
Mike Jarvis may have to concentrate on bigger fish to fry standing as County councillor too - formidable opposition with Clive and Iris standing too!
He appears to be a nice guy and my guess is he is too decent for the likes of our leader. He is also one of the few good hardworking Conservative councilors, everyone you speak to in his ward has high praise for his hard work!
He is exactly the type of Conservative with integrity so sadly lacking under SE's time at the helm but exactly the type that may be brow beaten?
Oh dear BB, got it wrong again. Cllr Mick T is the new deputy, your sources arent too reliable these days. Regarding Ezekiels wife, as he is also a Charter Trustee, he would know whats going on, so no breaking of confidence there, or are you jumping on the lets knock Mrs E bandwagon, along with previous mayors?
Bertie, why don't you ring Cheryl Ezekiel and get the update on the Mayoral candidates from her? She is a lovely lady and I am sure she would love to chat with you, but then again, getting the facts from the horses mouth, as it were, isn't your strong point is it?
Thanks 09.28. Will not need to ring her. Just looked in another Tesco Bag and found this.
Good
> morning
>
> The Mayor Elect for
> Margate for the forthcoming municipal year is
> Cllr Ted Watt-Ruffell; Mrs Alexandra Watt-Ruffell will
> accompany him as
> Mayoress.
>
> The Deputy Elect is
> Cllr Michael Tomlinson; Cllr Mrs
> Shirley Tomlinson will accompany him as Deputy
> Mayoress.
>
> Best
> regards
>
> Cheryl
> Ezekiel
>
> PA to the
> Mayor
>
> Clerk to the Charter
> Trustees
I would suggest those photo's are copyright TDC and the person therin!!
How useful to learn that Bertie.
The Mayor is under direct Oath of Allegiance duty in Treason Law then ?
I think I better email my old mate Mr Samuel about that.
Note to self .. copy to Billy Hayton.
yes cllr ruffell did stand down as dtm due motoring fines which he felt was right thing to do nine years ago and paid the price then
are you aware he has been dtm for 2008/2009 and has done a good job promoteing margate with the mayor cllr b sullivan they made a very good team
if the charter trustees did not feel he was the right man for mayor of margate why did they elect him as mayor elect for the year 2009/2010?
there was more than one person in the meeting and i have been informed that con lab ind members where in this meeting to vote for this man with nobody in opposition to stand agaisit him he won full support from the members present hope he enjoys his
year if he is not bullied to stand down
as i have met him and his wife at a few events he has margate at heart ex labour supporter
good luck ted
Thankyou 10.39; sounds vaguely familiar.
Thankyou for your comment 14:28 and you make some very valid comments.
I have been asked to amend my own comment of 10.01 and I am very happy to do so. Here is my amended posting again:
Bertie Biggles said...
Well we have a 'creature of the night' back who seems to know about ex Labour Westgate Cllrs.
09.22, thanks for that. In regard to The Mayor's PA, I have no intention whatsoever of jumping on Mrs Ezekiel, as her husband is a handy ex-boxer.
Like the security services, I will have to sharpen up my 'int-team' as it would appear the Charter Trustees elected Cllr Watt-Ruffell as Margate Mayor for 2009/10 on Monday night. I must say that I feel it was not a wise decision.
As I expected ( you really must read my posts carefully 09.22), Cllr Jarvis did not get elected as Deputy but former Mayor, Cllr Michael Tomlinson has. ***** ************ ***** etc.
29 April 2009 10:01
So you have the labour counculors feeding you titbits Bertie. Now who could that be .../ Let me see Hart, Johnson, Watkins, Scobie, Aldred, Ellie watsername. Hmmm. Which ones can't resist keeping away from any opportunity to have there say even if they can't put there name to it. I know ... I'll look in the paper to see who has got there picture in it the most times in the last week. Ah yes - got it. Dear Irish. You gave the game away really. Bet your mate Roger Gale isn't going to be happy when he finds out youve been canoodling with his chum from past elections, when your such a strong tory supporter of course.
If you look up the term Mayor, this is what you find:-
"It is generally regarded as an honour conferred for local distinction, long service on the Council, or for past services".
Therefore, this new mayoral selection is proven to be a farce!
It would appear that Ted Ruffell (Lab), sorry Edwin Watt-Ruffell ( Con) has brought himself to others attention in the past!
http://observingthanet.blogspot.com/2007/06/any-old-iron-guv.html
20.44, very wide of the mark there, I'm afraid.
You seem to epitomise all that is wrong at the moment with our local politics. Conservative 'good' and Labour 'bad' is a naive view that fails to take into account the many Conservative, Labour and an Independent Cllr who just get on with doing their best for Thanet.
When will you realise that openess, honesty, integrity and selflessness are the virtues that the electorate look for and that the Party at local level is largely irrelevant. The refuge of scoundrels has long been the assumption that criticism of the leadership is somehow disloyal and 'anti-Party'.
20.44 keep at it Bertie, Mr Nastie is here again! The fact is the selectors of the Conservative councillors before the last election did not know about one councillor's criminal record, you can choose not to print this but i was told by a very good source that they were shocked not to know what was common knowledge by another political party. Everybody who works for the NHS, or any other body can't take up a position offered until their CRB is confirmed as ok - why shouldn't a councillor be any different?
It is so predictable on your blog that whenever anything unpalatable comes out about a conservative councillor (usually is not much detrimental said about the others!) the same old "nastie" always accuses you of being fed information by the opposition. Doesnt matter who feeds it to you if it is true and indefencible?
You couldn't have put it better Bertie. Party politics at a local level should be irrelevant. The best thing for local democracy across the board would be to discontinue the present system of electing local councils on a party political basis and have people standing and being elected on their own merit.
22.44 Fails to understand that people want representatives that will do their best for them, not for the party, their leader, or their own self interest.
My sources tell me that Irish was getting cosy with Cllr Ezekiel at the meeting on monday. Sat her self next to him and was seen to be giggling and writing him notes during the meeting. Mind your back Sandy, you could end up with more than an EWM knitting needle in it!!!
Best check exactly who has got the security brief at TDC bertie, might have made a nose landing there.
Bertie, you seem to read too many newspapers and listen to only one side of every story. You clearly are very good at teasing out the fine detail of every issue to discredit your targets, but are very poor at doing the same for the good points.
Nobody is perfect, or even close to it, and it is not a question of conservative good, labour bad. But looking back through your posts it is hard to find a single issue where you have followed up on a local labour bad story. Is that because the labour people are all angels, or is it because the tories never phone you up to tell you about the dirty washing of the labour side? Be honest. How many times has a labour person phoned you up or e-mailed you to tell a story about a bad tory who is not fit to walk on the earth, and how many times have you had the same from a tory?
Does it not occur to you that the fuss at 10 Downing Street about labour nasty people publishing stories on the internet is the culture that the Thanet labour people have been doing for years. Haven't you noticed that Simon and Ken's blog are totally different to Green, Nottingham and Harrison's? Doesn't that mean anything to you? Aren't you worried that people not involved in politics don't see you as being balanced and fair but rather in the same mould as the 10 Downing Street mob. Think about it.
I understand that a certain lady councillor of the labour persuasion is about to join the tories!! No its not Iris
Thanks, 10.15. I have found out that Probe (Broadhurst) tendered for continuation of contract in Aug 2008 but 'Bridge' was awarded to start in Nov 2008. Thanks for pointing me in correct direction.
11.09, in the case of a Leader before standards twice on three counts I admit to a particular viewpoint. Quite simply the party in power has a higher profile and is the one that is going to be of interest. If issues were involving a Labour TDC and a Labour Leader of TDC in the same position of bringing his office into disrepute, the coverage would be the same. I happen to believe that there are many Conservative Councillors in TDC who are not happy with the present situation. I try to report as accurately as I can and where I have failed to do so am quick to apologise and correct the situation. Thanks for you comments.
The council may have changed the locks to the Margate Museum, but access can still be made along the corridor opposite the Mayor's parlour linking the twoo buildings. I think it will need a big padlock.
don't like ezekiel, watt ruffell broadhust, gregory, latchford or wiltshire, bertie you sound very much like Cllr Bruce
12.08, it is you who has used the word dis-like, not me. You must really try and grasp the fact that whilst I might disagree with actions, statements, policies etc, that doesn't automatically imply dis-like. Principles not personalities is what it is all about. If you consider I sound like Cllr Bruce then I thank you for the compliment.
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