Regular contributor Steve reports that Friday's inaugural, go-it-alone meeting of the Tim Garbutt inspired alternative Ramsgate council was attended by 'three men and a dog'. Now Chief O'Donnell, head Ramsgate Firster, writes:
Tim Garbutt has used the back of my email to propose setting up his own 'Ramsgate Town Council'. He wanted a public meeting and a committee formed to 'sack the Charter Trustees, TDC, etc etc'. I found Tim's proposals ludicrous and Ramsgate First rejects them utterly.
Before advising those of you who had received my previous email of this fact I stopped off at Albion House on Friday 22nd May at 7.00pm to attend Tim's proposed meeting so that I could inform him personally of the contents of this email.
Though the meeting was advertised in the Gazette it appears that nobody at Albion House was informed and consequently Tim and a couple of other people were unable to gain admittance. I therefore informed him on the doorstep that his proposals were unacceptable and that all he was doing was possibly jeopardising the parish council. There are some churls in TDC who are itching to scratch Ramsgate parish council and that Tim's intervention might give them ammunition.
I have to say I like Tim Garbutt. There is no doubting his sincerity but his waywardness, especially in his hatred of TDC, often leads him to express thoughts that frighten off others. I think Tim thinks that I am now some kind of Uncle Tom - betraying his own. He is wrong of course. Often is.
It is quite obvious that Tim's views are shared by a few, a very few: less than a handful of people judging by the attendance on Friday and that in no way is he representative of the overwhelming majority of the people of Ramsgate.
I hope, therefore, not to hear some councillors suggest there is any linkage between Mr Garbutt and Ramsgate First or the good people of Ramsgate in their pursuit of their own parish/town council. There is none.
To which Tim Garbutt has responded:
Gerry's opinions are all true: however next meeting of Ramsgate Town Council 7pm Friday. In Ramsgate Town Hall or on the steps again.
18 months and no Town Council is too long. TDC is a failed council. Could Richard Samuel provide the keys?
You have to admire the fighting spirit Thanet Council generates. I'll be the first to admit that I'm no great admirer of the Uranians, as regular readers will have realised all too long ago. But I'm afraid that anti-council initiatives seem to spring up in these parts with the same kind of monotonous regularity as luxury apartment blocks, only to subsequently crumble quicker than our lovely listed buildings. So for better or worse, I think I'll be sticking to the current Tweedledum/Tweedledee political arrangement for the time being.
10 comments:
Richard I put up all the relevant Tim and Gerry correspondence I could find click here to read for those people who haven’t a clue what we are talking about.
Thanks Michael
I seem to have got it clear now.
I think
It seems that there are two men
One whose initials spell GOD
And the other whose initials stand for Tongue and Groove.
And GOD appears to be saying unto Tongue and Groove that it be sinful that he try to slot together with other's in order to show his stand on the town hall steps.
It is all as clear as mud now.
i find these small town power struggles really depressing. I suppose someones got to take an interest. It just seems that everyone these days tries hard to build a public profile, but everything is so shit.
It may be a struggle but there is no power involved.
It is almost certainly about what they don't want TDC to do rather than about what they can do.
Negative judo.
If they want influence then stand for TDC. Without immediately changing sides once elected .....
This is all rather sad really. Small people wishing they were bigger and so have these little spats with the creation of new political parties, which end up stillborn anyway and so never actually acheive anything as the party members all want to be the Big Man and run the whole show, which will never happen. Look at the Grey Party/Independent Party...a template for just about every political party which has emerged on the basis of "the people" and independent concerns.
They preach the wonders of the future but always end up fighting over the scraps. This new Ramsgate Patry will finish in exactly the same way as the others. As it was, as it is, as it forever will be. Greed conquers all.
James
I was one of the small people on the steps. This small person also served this now worthless country in the Army, often at the sharp end sums up your small party influences does it not, or is that a grey mind?
Malcolm Kirkaldie
I dont have a problem with older people standing, or independents standing for office as long as thery can actually do the job. My point is that small short lifed political parties very often fall apart because the egos within the groups cannot be contained. The main parties can usually contain it because those parties have been long established. Egos within small political organisations, very often in the embryonic stages fight against others and such bustling leads to critical damage being impacted before anything substantial is even done.
An example of when it works is that of Independent MP Richard Taylor, supported by the Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern. More an exception to the rule rather than a rule breaker in itself.
I hate to say it but I think the lad Maskell's got a point there.
I fought for our country in ww1, ww2 the falklands and played an advisory role in serbia, the gulf war and iraq. I'm going to put all you young men accross my knee and spank your naked buttocks. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. bah.
Fight fight!
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