Trying to keep track of the to-ing and fro-ing at Worst Street after the resignation of leader Aaron Spencer is like trying to reach the centre of a maze by walking through it backwards and blindfolded.

***

In the aftermath of last week’s politicking, Councillor Spencer appeared to be down – but not apparently out.

Following his resignation ahead of last week’s full council meeting after being told that the alternative would be a humiliating vote of no confidence, he fired off an open letter to all members of the council – couched in terms that some might question as a way to win them over.

***

Councillor Spencer wrote: “Now the dust has settled and the true venomous treachery and betrayal of trust from within the Tory group was exposed to me I feel I could no longer lead as a member of that group. So, I took the decision to resign as leader with a very heavy heart, as I really have tried to be a good leader and bring the divide of councillors together. I was basically push [sic] by a small few of the Tory group who for selfish opportunistic reasons decided to make a grap [sic] for power and keep the strangle hold [sic] on the leadership. 

“As I have also stated I wanted us all to work together without divide to make a better boston [sic]. This is what I stand for and truly believe.

“This will not happen if the Tory group are allowed to install a new puppet that I would not be. I urge you as fellow councillors to support me as an independent to lead Boston council again. If you support me there will be a complete shuffle within the cabinet and various positions, giving a true fair and collision [sic] governance for our town and do what’s best for the people of boston [sic] we where [sic] elected for. 

“I sacrificed a full time job offer and only worked 2 months over the Xmas period so I could give 100% to my role . However Nigel and Tom who have wanted to be leader in the past, and mike [sic] who was twisted and showed hatred towards me since my election decided that this gave them a reason for no confidence and when removing mike [sic] from a role because of his total lack of interest at our group meetings the scene was set for the betrayal allowing Tom to run around and obtain some support from a few of you.

“To give Boston the best shot I can ! [sic] I hope you can get behind me and choose me again. This time I can truly lead us all for a better boston [sic].

“Thank you for taking the time to read my email and I will try to call every one of you over the next few days and it will allow me to answer any questions or fears you may have. There will be no lies from my mouth and I hope I can proof [sic] to you that I am the right man. I know I am not as experienced as some of you but I have lots of positive energy to share, and though me I will give your opinion a voice.”

***

We don’t know what you make of this – but it was enough to make one Independent take to social media to give Councillor Spencer his backing.

Interestingly, Councillor Hastie is one of those ‘Independents’ who takes the view that if a councillor quits his group they should resign and fight a by-election.

Yes, really.

***

We also heard that Councillor Spencer held a meeting last Thursday at which he hoped to rally colleagues to back him as an ‘Independent’ leader.

***

Quite how this would work, we don’t know – Councillor Mike Cooper has reunited with the Tory  party after the spat which saw him sacked by Councillor Spencer – and the Conservatives still have a majority.in any case.

***

To appoint Councillor Spencer as the ‘Independent’ leader of the council would require some Tories either absenting themselves from future meetings, abstaining from voting, or deliberately voting against their own party.

***

Whilst the impression exists that recent events came to a head quite suddenly, we understand that the issues concerning Councillor Spencer arose over time and that he was cautioned by his peers a number of times before push came to shove.

***

But one outcome of all this is to have focussed the minds of potential candidates for the Tory leader’s job – with both the current deputy Nigel Welton and planning committee chairman Tom Ashton (whose raising of the sacking of Councillor Cooper brought matters to boiling point) now apparently unwilling to put themselves forward to replace Councillor Spencer.

Who might be left to vie for the job?

Your can make a few guesses yourself, and we think you will agree that the list is not exciting.

***

But we won't have long to wait.

An extraordinary meeting of the council has been called for Monday 3^rd February at 6-30pm specifically to appoint a new leader of the council.
It has been called by six councillors –  one more than the mininum required by the council's constitution –  and can be attended by members of the public ... although they are not allowed to speak.
Given what we’ve been hearing, it seems likely that five of the councillors wanting the meeting represent the entire Bostonian Independents Group – which includes two battle-scarred veterans of previous leadership encounters –  while the sixth would have to be Councillor Spencer.

***

Extraordinary meetings of Boston Borough Council, are, err, extraordinarily rare. The last one was almost two years ago – on 12^th February 2018, when Councillor Brian Rush was mayor.

Then, a motion proposed by Councillor Michael Cooper and seconded by Councillor David Brown declared the council’s “deep concern with the actions of the Mayor in posting offensive and political comments on his Facebook page.”

The motion declared that this had “demeaned the great office that is The Worshipful the Mayor of Boston.”

It went on to say that Councillor Rush had “sullied” the role of First Citizen and champion of the Borough with “petty, political point scoring that is factually incorrect” and called on him to resign with immediate effect.

To hammer the point home, an amendment was moved by Councillor Richard Austin and seconded by Councillor Aaron Spencer demanding that if the Mayor refused to quit, officers should withdraw all administrative support for his activities as Mayor for the rest of his term of office.

***

The extraordinary meeting prior to that was at the end of October 2016 – with the happier objective of making a local woman a Freeman of the borough to recognise her years of service to the community.

***

The business conducted may be poles apart – but the variety and rarity of such meetings underlines their importance of these very special meetings

***

Remember, next Monday’s meeting is to appoint a leader of the council –  not the Conservative group –  which presumably will have to get its ducks in a row to appoint their own Number One in double quick time, in the hope and expectation that the winner will also have enough votes on the night to keep control of the council.

If they had three-line whips in local parties then this would be an occasion for one of them.
Hopefully, we'll learn more in the coming week and, if so, will share it with you on the day of the meeting.

***

So … is anything else happening in Worst Street other than some rather unseemly jockeying for power and position?

***

Yes – and it seems that if it doesn’t involve power it involves money.

***

The draft budget for the coming year has just surfaced – with a rise in Worst Street’s share of the council tax being proposed at 2.05%,  just 8p a week more for Band D taxpayers – and we expect it to be touted as the act of a generous council seeking to save our pockets.

***

It sounds quite good, but as always, the devil is in the detail.

Whilst we may think that we are getting away with a reasonable increase – we are paying heavily in other areas.

One of these has been well-aired already – the increase in garden waste collection charges.

According to the draft budget the rise will bring in an extra £166,000 next year – although no further increases are listed for the years up to financial year 2024/2025.

But if you’re planning to die in the coming years – then its time to start saving now.

Bereavement charges are set to increase by £31,000 in the year ahead, then rise steadily by proposed increments of an extra £26k a year in 2021/2 and 2022/3, £30k in 2023/4 and another £27k in the final budgeted year of 2024/2025.

That’s a rise of £140,000 between today and April 2024.

***

Car parking charges are also set to bring in another £29,000 in the financial year ahead.

***

But there’s no limit to the Worst Street imagination when it comes to making money.

It emerged recently that the council had told Boston Woods Trust – which is a registered charity – that from April it must pay to have its bins for litter and dog waste collected from the car parks at its sites.

This has forced the Trust to appeal for at least 100 new members at £20  a year which would cover the shortfall.
If you’d like to join, then you can follow the link here –  and let them know that you heard about them in Boston Eye.

But we still think that as Worst Street's bin lorries collect in the areas near the woods, the council could make an exception in this particular case.

***

To underline the irony of all this, Worst Street last week declared a climate emergency, which included special mention of the importance of tree-planting. 

“The Council provides excellent levels of biodiversity and environmental good practice. The Council is accredited in its management of both country parks and delivers a number of tree planting successes across its parks and grounds estates year on year. The Council continues to increase it’s [sic] activity in these areas and wishes to provide and support others to further this agenda.”

Ho-Ho.

***

But the penny-pinching doesn’t end there, apparently.

People wanting planning application information are now going to have to fork out as well.

We hear that the department no longer prints copies of supporting statements.

And whilst taxpayers  can view them on-screen by arrangement in the municipal buildings – assuming they are able-bodied enough to get there and can find somewhere to park – if they want paper copies they must pay on a sliding scale that starts at 10p for a piece of A4 paper and end at £2.10 for a slab of A1.

***

It’s not enough to attack one local charity, by the way – Worst Street has set its sights on others as well.

Until it shut up shop completely – Boston’s Oxfam shop opened at different times to the published hours – and once or twice when we had stuff to drop off, we left it bagged neatly in the doorway.

***

Now Boston Borough Council wants it known that doing this is a crime – regardless of the charity involved.

So, in future, it seems that helping others less fortunate may get you nabbed by the crack team the council employs to nick a handful of people who drop fag ends in the name of keeping the borough clean.

Oh. And what will be done about the rolls of bedding and blankets left overnight in shop doorways to stake a claim for our local beggary when they arrive for their day’s business? No-one seems much bothered about them – or so it appears.

***

The same message is being sent out to people who leave recyclable items beside collecting banks.

“If you find your local recycling bank is full please do not leave the items next to the bin as this is classed as fly-tipping,” says Worst Street blithely, going on to ask people to let them know about a full bank.

If they kept a more thorough eye on them as they should, this problem wouldn’t arise.

But Worst Street has always loved threatening and criminalising people.

***

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com

E– mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

Our former blog is archived at: http://bostoneyelincolnshire.blogspot.com

We are on Twitter – visit @eye_boston