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My Amazing Mayoral Year 1
Apr. 2nd, 2020 11:57 amAs related earlier, Mick and I found ourselves organising the local election campaign in Todmorden in 2019, found ourselves re-invented as Town Councillors in May and I found myself voted in as Deputy Mayor. For most of the Council Year I had no expectation of becoming Mayor. The selection of Mayor and Deputy had been by picking numbers out of a box: I assumed that the same sort of random lottery would occur in subsequent years. Not so!
Less than a month ago, it became clear that the order of preference established last May would operate throughout this Council. Three weeks ago we had an informal Council meeting at which all the appointments for the coming year were agreed by Councillors, to be ratified at the next Full Council. We agreed that the usual Mayor-making celebration - a lunch for over 200 people chosen for their importance or value to the community - would have to be postponed for some while.
By the time of the Full Council, the Town Hall was closed and the Town Clerks' office in the process of being out-sourced to the homes of our 3 staff. We were not yet ready to use a virtual system for the meeting so we used a slightly earlier technology: an agenda+papers was emailed round for provisional approval and some negotiation took place between Group Leaders and Town Clerk to amend items which could not be agreed.
Then everyone received an agenda+voting paper with instructions to return it during the hours the meeting would have occurred. All but 2 Councillors took part and everything was agreed, including the creation of a 5-strong Emergency Committee to take any necessary decisions during the lockdown. (If they cannot agree, the decision will go to all Councillors.) We should be able to meet virtually.
I am therefore going to be Mayor for 2020/21. What a year!
Less than a month ago, it became clear that the order of preference established last May would operate throughout this Council. Three weeks ago we had an informal Council meeting at which all the appointments for the coming year were agreed by Councillors, to be ratified at the next Full Council. We agreed that the usual Mayor-making celebration - a lunch for over 200 people chosen for their importance or value to the community - would have to be postponed for some while.
By the time of the Full Council, the Town Hall was closed and the Town Clerks' office in the process of being out-sourced to the homes of our 3 staff. We were not yet ready to use a virtual system for the meeting so we used a slightly earlier technology: an agenda+papers was emailed round for provisional approval and some negotiation took place between Group Leaders and Town Clerk to amend items which could not be agreed.
Then everyone received an agenda+voting paper with instructions to return it during the hours the meeting would have occurred. All but 2 Councillors took part and everything was agreed, including the creation of a 5-strong Emergency Committee to take any necessary decisions during the lockdown. (If they cannot agree, the decision will go to all Councillors.) We should be able to meet virtually.
I am therefore going to be Mayor for 2020/21. What a year!
