WET AND WEAK MONITORING OFFICER DROPS HIS TROUSERS AND BENDS OVER FOR THE MAYOR AGAIN

“L’il” Tim O’Gara, the city council’s weak and woolly Monitoring Officer, is at it again.

Richly rewarded to be a tough and independent voice at the council, keeping the Mayor, councillors and staff in line and acting according to the council’s constitution and policies, “L’il” Tim has consistently failed at this. Instead he has carved out a reputation for doing whatever the mayor tells him, regardless of propriety or the law.

Among his many handiworks has been turning a blind eye to the Reverend’s lack of any apparent open sale or procurement process as our valuable land at Arena Island is handed over to pension fund L&G. They will develop the land at a considerable profit to themselves while lumbering us with a 40 year rental charge for an already obsolete office block they intend to build.

O’Gara was also behind hiding vital Bristol Energy documents, such as dodgy business plans and realistic accounts, from the councillors and the public. A dumb practice only helpful to the Reverend, keen to hide his fundamental incompetence, now condemned by the council’s auditors. “L’il” Tim’s work almost certainly helped the shambolic energy reseller run up a £43m debt for council taxpayers.

Now we learn “L’il” Tim has turned his attention to next week’s motion before the Full Council to have a referendum on whether we should continue to have a mayor. And “L’il” Tim has helpfully allowed the Reverend to table an amendment to the Lib Dem’s motion stating that the alternative to the Mayor should be a leader and Cabinet system not the committee system requested by the Lib Dems.

This is odd because last year, when the Lib Dems put in a similar motion, proposing a leader and cabinet system, the Greens tabled an amendment to change it to a committee system. Only for O’Gara to pop up and dismiss the Greens stating it was a “wrecking amendment”.
So what’s changed now? Apart from it’s the Reverend (who O’Gara’s shit scared of) tabling this latest and similar amendment?

Why is some weak and useless tosspot of a Monitoring Officer allowed to be entirely partisan and fuck about with our city’s democracy like this? With his limited legal skills, mental weakness and poor character, might “L’il” Tim be better suited to provincial house conveyancing practice rather than to the political cut and thrust of a core city local authority where the bullies and thugs tend to congregate at the top?

“L’il!” Tim is a wimp and a coward and he now really needs to fuck off before he does any more damage to our city.

LEAKED EMAIL: BUSINESS WEST BEG COUNCILLORS TO SAVE THE MAYOR!

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With a vote by councillors due next week on whether to have a referendum on scrapping the elected mayor, Business West head honcho James Durie and friends have got scribbling fast:

FAO All Bristol City Councillors

Dear Councillor

I attach a letter to each of you from Bristol Chamber of Commerce & Initiative – Business West with reference to the motion to trigger a referendum on the Democratically Elected Mayoral model for the City of Bristol at Full Council Meeting on 7^th December. This is a matter of significant interest and concern for us.

Regards

James

James Durie | Chief Executive – Bristol Chamber & West of England Initiative

Executive Director – Business West

Dear Councillor,
Strengthening Bristol’s Democracy
We are writing to you about the motion to trigger a referendum on the Democratically Elected Mayoral (DEM) model for the city of Bristol. This is a matter of significant interest and concern for us.
The DEM model – chosen by the people of Bristol in the 2012 referendum – has enabled all voters across the city to directly elect the leader of the city every four years. As the representatives of business in the West of England, and also as residents of Bristol, we saw the need in 2012 to change the governance model of the city and supported the creation of a directly elected mayor. We continue to support this now and wish to see it strengthened.
We are writing to each of you privately as our representatives in Bristol’s democracy to make clear our position. We will also be contributing to the debate at the council meeting and in public.
Background
We believe in a strong and inclusive economy for Bristol. In 2012, Business West Chamber and Initiative supported the ‘Elected Mayor for Bristol’ referendum “Yes” campaign as we believed that a directly elected mayor would improve decision making in the city, strengthen Bristol, and help deliver prosperity which is essential for jobs and services and the continued sustainable growth of the city.
Over the last 35 years we have had many strong partnerships with Bristol City Council (the regeneration of Harbourside and Broadmead are two). However, our long experience showed us that the system of local government in 2012 – being often short-term in outlook and delivery – was holding the city back. We believed then, and continue to believe now, that stable leadership, which brings the city together, is essential. The five changes of leadership in Bristol City Council we encountered in the seven years before the referendum made stability and consistency impossible for the long-term thinking and decision-making that cities need. It also made the case harder for investment to be made in the city whether by national government or private.
At present, businesses and employers are focussing on dealing with the impact of inflation, Brexit, and trying to recover from the pandemic with major skills and supply chain shortages in what remains a challenging, fast changing environment. And on top of these, there is the need for businesses to contribute to decarbonisation as part of meeting the climate crisis. Many of these challenges are long term and our work to meet these will be helped by strong and accountable leadership. Build a New Future for the DEM model
We are supporters of the Directly Elected Mayoral model but also want to see this strengthened. We want to see strong and effective system of local government which is best able to serve all our communities. We need to ensure that there is consistency of leadership over each four-year period so that critical issues of, for example, transport and land use planning can be agreed and delivered.
The research published in the Bristol Civic Leadership project argued that:
• The mayoral model delivers more visible leadership of the city.
• Direct election gives the individual substantial democratic legitimacy to lead and makes mayors more accountable.
• Successive mayors have been effective in developing a forward-looking vision for the city. • Four-year terms provide stable leadership.
We believe these points are critical in this debate. At the same time, we share the legitimate concerns that the role of councillors in decision making has been restricted and that the expansive remit of the mayor risks overloading one individual. There are other issues, too. Since Bristol adopted the DEM model, the city and its councillors have also supported – and become part of – the West of England Combined Authority. We believe that Bristol still needs strong leadership to enable it to operate as the central and largest component of a city region of over 1.1m people. As national government shifts more funding into regional authorities, we need to make sure that the leadership in the city is right to work in the context of WECA, too.
We want an open debate about all these points so that we can see democracy strengthened as well as retain the leadership needed. We believe that we can find the right way to balance leadership, accountability, and a renewed role for councillors, amongst others, to help the city move forward. We will be contributing to The Mayor at 10 projects. In the meantime, we feel that a referendum will be a distraction and urge that the motion be rejected in favour of a commitment by all to improve the DEM model.
Signed
Jaya Chakrabarti
President
Bristol Chamber of Commerce and Initiative
James Durie
Chief Executive
Bristol Chamber of Commerce and Initiative
Director – Business West
John Savage
Chairman
Bristol Chamber of Commerce and Initiative

****It’s been brought to our attention that the letter is inaccurate. It states:

‘The five changes of leadership in Bristol City Council we encountered in the seven years before the referendum made stability and consistency impossible for the long-term thinking and decision-making that cities need.’

But there were only two leaders of council in the 7 years before the 2012 referendum: Barbara Janke 2003-07 and 08-12 and Helen Holland 07-08!

COP26 CLIMATE MARCH: GOING AROUND IN CIRCLES?

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Yesterday saw another poorly attended march around Broadmead as part of a “global day of action for climate justice.”

The usual liberal suspects bearing ‘witty’ homemade placards were joined by unions, the Labour Party and the Green Party, all touting a version of “the Green New Deal”. Where large sums of commercially confidential public money will be handed over to struggling corporations with no questions allowed to provide profitable market solutions to the climate crisis.

Under the ubiquitous straplines “net zero” and “just transition”, some of the most unjust organisations and institutions on the planet – that created climate change in the first place – are now going to solve it for us (for a fee)!

The BRISTOLIAN’s position on this hasn’t altered on this since 2014 when there was also a “a global day of climate change action” during a UN conference in New York City to organise a climate conference. We said then:

Any response to climate change requires a new mass social movement and the dismantling of existing elites and their interests, not some crude rearrangement betweeen these elites (who have already trashed the planet) backed up with a novelty global PR campaign aimed at GUILT TRIPPING US.
If we want to protect humanity from climate change, we have to TAKE CONTROL of business and industry ourselves, not leave it to profit-hungry corporations or a bunch of rich hippy clowns. We don’t want a nicer shinier ‘green capitalism’, we want to DESTROY it, their class system and protect our future in one shot. You know it makes sense

GREENBALLS: GUESS WHO’S SAVING THE PLANET FOR US?

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To get involved in the COP26 action and talk up climate change “business opportunities”, Business West ran a conference – ‘COP26 Green Zone – The Business of Net Zero’ today. The Reverend dashed down from some dull meetings at COP 26 in Glasgow to be the keynote speaker for the business boys but look who else turned up …

When not lecturing stupid wealthy old white men on how to save the planet, Skellett is Chief Exec at Wessex Water. Last year Wessex dumped 197,213 hours of raw sewage into out waterways up from 107,435 the previous year.

One reader said, “Colin’s graph shows the increases not only in crap being released in our rivers but the expected dividend payment increase for our shareholders this year.”

SAVE THE IRON BRIDGE PROTEST

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The bridge is still not repaired!

The Save the Green Iron Bridge campaign are holding a protest over the lack of action over repairing the listed structure and reopening the Public Right of Way across it. It will take place at the bridge on the 7th Nov, 2-3pm Bring a placard!

SLEEPWALKING INTO TOTALITARIANISM

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While MPs and the media wring their hands and weep over a stabbed tory, it was not lost on us that during the same week it was reported in The Guardian that “[a] University of York study found that there had been 57,550 deaths due to austerity in the four years following 2010.”

This is slightly less than the British Medical Journal reported in 2017. They linked an extra 120,00 extra deaths to austerity cuts. These are not the only studies and the figures differ slightly but they all show a lot of deaths of the poor and ill.

This MP, who everybody said was a good bloke and cared deeply for his constituents, voted time and time again for cuts to welfare and services. But there’s hardly a word in the mainstream press about any deaths due to this. Not a single crocodile tear was shed in Parliament. No one minute silence for any human being lost to their families early due to decisions in Parliament.

What this one death means, at the hands of a lone nutter, is more security measures and less opportunity to engage directly with your MP. Not that that achieves much anyway.

The eagle-eyed might have noticed that the Tories are also trying to curtail our rights to judicial review. Even David Davies – remember that old twat? – calls it “an assault on the legal system” and “an attempt to avoid accountability”. But why the need to hold our leaders to account?

Well, deaths from austerity might be one reason. Another is that the Tories have just voted not to stop pumping raw sewage into our rivers. Apparently, it’s too expensive for the poor companies in charge of our water supplies who have already paid out billions in dividends to wealthy shareholders.

This vote came after our new-found freedoms thanks to BREXIT and the end of European environmental protections. Now we are free to swim and fish in our own shite. Not that we could have known because the government are refusing to allow access and scrutiny of any legal advice relating to BREXIT.

How has BREXIT gone so far? We have Northern Ireland, labour shortages, empty shelves, increase in prices, businesses going bust and disputes about fishing. We also have the £350m per week for the NHS but the Tories forgot to tell us that we would be paying that with National Insurance increases, which hits the low-waged worse. So that’s alright then.

And who needs scrutiny over the government’s response to COVID, the worse pandemic in living memory? That all started with the lack of PPE in care homes and the overstretched NHS releasing COVID positive patients into care homes.

The contract to oversee test and trace was given to Dildo Harding. The app did not work. They did not employ enough tracers but did spend £22 billion on consultants. Some racking up more than £6k a day, while Dildo Harding didn’t do too bad in her pocket either. I wonder how many of these twats vote Tory? In the meantime we have the highest death rate per head in Europe.

All through the pandemic the Tories handed their mates and donors contracts for millions of public money. Mainly to do stuff that they couldn’t do while ignoring the underfunded NHS who had the skills and resources to complete the tasks the private sector fatcats couldn’t.

Like testing. We have all heard about the 43,000 wrong results given for PCR tests in the South West. But then we are told that this has nothing to do with the sudden surge in cases. Really?

Who suffers? Us. Again. If they bring back a lockdown, it will not affect those in their country piles, fancy townhouses and gated communities. It will be us, in our tower blocks, terraced houses and apartments with a lack of living space. All watched over by state sponsored muggers, better known as the old bill, trotting about giving out fines.

There’ll be no chance of public scrutiny and don’t think public protest will be welcomed. Instead, the Crime and Policing Bill is curtailing your rights to peaceful protest. Not that the old bill ever lets you have a peaceful protest. They wade in as soon as it’s dark.

Like the recent Kill the Bill protests in Bristol. Remember how cops claimed to the press that they were provoked and injured by the violent protesters? Then later they had to admit that there were no significant injuries among the coppers on duty that night? A fact which received considerably less press.

Although the press did manage lots of outrage against anyone caught up in the police attack. Some have received serious prison time, including two women, who were kettled and needed a piss. Nine months each. Needless to say they were not granted Legal Aid and, like most working class people now, they had to defend themselves in court against a criminal charge.

It’s all a right mess and we are the victims. At the beginning of COVID, a leaked after dinner speech by a chinless Tory spoke of “useless eaters” in the care homes. They mean you and your family.

Is it enough yet?

GREENBALLS: Saving da planet for da yoof

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An occasional series showcasing the bollocks that’s talked about the environment by people who really should know better.

Bristol City Council is going to sink £4million and ongoing revenue funding of about £400k a year into a ‘Youth Zone’ that will be built on open space in Inns Court in South Bristol.

This got the following explanation from the council and the wealthy philanthropists from Onside who are behind the national Youth Zone projects:

So concreting over green space encourages young people to use green space? Glad we got that sorted.

CLIMATE EMERGENCY BALLS: IT’S TREES OR CARS

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An occasional series highlighting the nonsense spouted in the name of ‘the climate emergency’

“In a climate and ecological emergency, we need radical action, and fast …The alternative to schemes that involve felling a few trees [74 in total on one site], to safeguard and improve our active travel and public transport infrastructure [by building 166 homes in ‘attractive mid-rise buildings’], is the continued increase of car journeys.”
https://thebristolcable.org/2021/09/saving-every-tree-is-not-the-answer/

The Bristol Cable explaining why trees at Baltic Wharf – a site that has both the largest single collection of trees and the highest tree density on the harbourside – must be chopped down because ‘climate emergency’.

Further reading on the value of trees at Baltic Wharf

CITY LEAP: ANOTHER ENERGY BUSINESS SHAMBLES?

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A strong rumour rumbles through the Bristolian newswire that never sleeps … One of the three multinational corporates bidding to become a partner in the ‘billion pound City Leap’ neighbourhood heat network joint venture with Bristol City Council has thrown in the towel.

So it’s farewell, then, to ENGIE Services Holding UK Ltd and Sumitomo Corporation (as a consortium). Have they decided that Bristol City Council’s “billion pound’ golden egg may well end up all over their faces? This leaves E ON and Ameresco to battle it out for the grand prize in a procurement race that has so far burned through £7million of council taxpayers cash for no useful reason.

Engie’s decision may not be unrelated to a cabinet paper released this week that reveals the council has just received £11million from the government to build a heat network in Bedminster. This, the paper explains, will connect to eleven new blocks of flats in the Bedminster Green area. In other words, the cost, at present, of connecting one block to a neighbourhood heat network is a million quid.

Never mind any profit, Engie probably figured out not losing a small fortune in this expensive business was probably unavoidable. How much would you have to charge punters to get a million quid back while “implement[ing] competitive heat retail and competitive heat generation across the heat network”?

Not a question Bristol’s cabinet or councillors have so far asked while signing away £7million of our money on their latest daft energy business.

THAT RARE BEAST … An informed comment on the Evening Post website!

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In response to claims that Cineworld at Hengrove isn’t viable and “the cinemas for years have been dead”:

RARaspberryEgg17 HRS AGOReply to AwrightMeBabberz

You are wrong on this one.

At the current time, Cineworld charge £6 a ticket.

Around 400 of us have the Cineworld “Unlimited” Card, where, for a fixed monthly fee, you can watch as many films as you want (I know the numbers because Cineworld set up an unlimited group on Facebook for each cinema)

Cineworld themselves haven’t helped with their scheduling :

The Sopranos spin off, “The Many Saints of Newark” was released yesterday. Hengrove gets just one showing per day, at 4.40 PM, not great when you factor in people’s working commitments.

In the Cineworld App, both Yate and Weston have two showings per day, at 5.40 PM and 8.30 PM. Further afield, Cineworld cinemas in Newport, Cheltenham, Gloucester and Swindon have four showings per day, and this scenario is repeated for other films.

Prior to Covid, Hengrove was designated by Cineworld as an “International Film Cinema”, showing many Polish and Bollywood films, with Poles and Asians coming from as far as Thornbury, Newport, Cardiff, and Gloucester, to watch films in their native language (with English subtitles) that they could not watch nearer home. Since Hengrove re-opened, precious few foreign films have been shown

As a benefit of having an unlimited card, we had regular early preview showings of films, before they went on general release. Outside the screen, there was usually a table set up for us, offering free film posters, badges, water bottles, etc, and occasionally a tub of sweets or a drink. Again, this has all stopped.

Those of us with unlimited cards have long suspected that Cineworld themselves have wanted to close Hengrove, irrespective of any housing development.

Worse still, Cineworld are just silent when we ask questions via their social media channels….