A couple of weeks ago we were treated to the show biz spectacle known as the BAFTAS.

And not to be outdone, Worst Street last week staged its own version – a less than glittering event which must surely come to be known as the DAFTAS

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Had Boston Borough Council taken an unlikely leap in open and transparent communication and webcast last week’s ‘extraordinary’ council meeting to appoint a new leader, it would surely have ranked as a video nasty by all accounts.

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It was a single agenda item meeting which we would have thought called for calm and rational debate – no doubt with the hope that it would be conducted with the common-sense and level headedness that such a rare event should merit.

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But it was not to be.

According to the two separate accounts that we read – and which largely agreed with each other – attendees at the meeting witnessed bad-tempered, disrespectful, undemocratic and unpleasant behaviour from many councillors … some of whom had clearly come armed to the teeth with their copies of the Oxford Book of Political and Other Abuse.

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The meeting was called following the resignation of former leader Aaron Spencer who – after just six months on the gilded Worst Street throne – was offered the choice to quit or be ousted by a humiliating vote of no confidence.

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Apparently, bloody but unbowed, he sought support to be re-elected as an ‘Independent’ leader – and, indeed, six opposition councillors signed a demand for the rarely-convened extraordinary meeting to vote for a new top dog (or bitch, let’s not be guilty of sexism).

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Ahead of last Monday’s meeting, the Conservative group demonstrated some uncharacteristic speed in decision-making and elected Councillor Paul Skinner as their leader – and nominating him to spearhead the council as a hole at last week’s meeting which would see him become the fourth leader of the council in just under four years, and the second in around six months.

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Accounts of the meeting have been widely circulated, but it interesting to note that veteran councillor Alison Austin summed it up neatly with a major criticism of the Conservatives, whose recent behaviour, she said, had “done more to damage the reputation of this council” than for several decades.

She reiterated the seven Nolan principles or public life – which were issued a quarter of a century ago this year.

These call for: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.

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Not only are these principles a little past their sell-by date in today’s public life – but a number of them have been sadly lacking at Worst Street for some time now … and it’s worth remembering that all that is expected of our councillors is that they attend a minimum of just two meetings a year.

They don’t even have to dirty their hands dealing with the voters who elected them and who pay their allowances if they don’t want to – and one sad omission from the list (as was clearly demonstrated last Monday night) was that of respect.

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Whilst the Tories were roundly condemned for their political execution of Councillor Spencer, the man himself sent apologies for his absence from the meeting.

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And even though a group of non-Tories had forced the meeting, not a single name was offered during the meeting as a nominee for leader, other than Councillor Skinner.

One former councillor – Mike Gilbert, who is a one-time cabinet member and now runs his own political party reported on Facebook: “This was not a good meeting.

“It was bad-tempered, fractious and for the political groups and parties a return to the old ways of doing business.”

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Another former councillor who attended, Helen Staples, commented on social media: “I have never been in a more hostile environment as the council chamber was last night.”

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So – unquestionably a rival to the BAFTAs, Worst Street’s DAFTAs would be incomplete without their awards.

And here are the ones that we have identified: based on the reports of the meeting

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Best farce – The entire meeting.

Worst performance – awarded jointly to Councillors Brian Rush and Anne Dorrian.

Best supporting actor – the Mayor for trying to bail out his Tory colleagues – to the extent that some observers thought that he had gone too far and lost sight of the impartial role that goes with the job.

Absent friends – Aaron Spencer for leaving an empty seat

It’ll be alright on the night incorporating the ‘Let them eat Cake’ award – Councillor Jonathan Noble for the quote: “We are the Conservatives, we are the ruling group, if we wish to change our leader we will do so."

It’ll be alright on the night award (after all the shouting) award – Councillor Paul Skinner, who without any opposition to his nomination only managed 16 votes, with seven against – leaving another six abstentions and one apology.

Not getting it quite right award: Councillor Stephen Woodliffe for saying that outside of the borough "people are laughing at us". They’ve laughing at you inside the borough as well!

Best winner’s speech – no award made.

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And the award for Unintentional Irony goes to the Local Government Association which came to Boston last September as part of a ‘Corporate Peer Challenge’ and subsequently reported:

“The new Leader has brought energy, enthusiasm and a collaborative approach, while leading from the front (e.g. staff briefings, visibly leading the growth agenda, and cross-party engagement).

“This has engendered tangible goodwill towards the new administration, with staff and many councillors enthused by his ambition for Boston and willingness to engage. The focus should now be on clearly defining the political vision, through an adopted Corporate Plan, to capitalise on the momentum and to strengthen political and managerial Leadership.”

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There is no question that the Tory administration could have handled this whole business better.

The former leader played the part, but we think in the long run allowed the image to overshadow the reality of what the task required and which led to his downfall.

And we doubt the sincerity of some of those opposition councillors who have heaped praise on his head since his departure, whose bottom line seem to have used approbation as a bludgeon with which to beat the leadership.

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Now that the poisoned chalice has been passed to Councillor Skinner, he faces the problem on trying to reunite the baying rabble that attended last week’s meeting.

Whatever he does will fall on stony ground we fear, as there are so many now in opposition who are keener to see yet another leader fail rather than succeed – no matter what they claim.

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A two-pronged attack needs to be made to address the problems faced in Boston.

The first is short-term and is to clean up the whole town in a literal sense – not just by removing litter ... and certainly not by trumpeting the penalising of half a dozen people a week for dropping their fag ends in the street.  

The drabness of the town centre needs an urgent makeover, with some eye-catching ideas to make it more attractive.

And while we’re about it, can we bring back the market?

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Longer term – well, there’s the PE21 project which is not exactly scintillating but might at least see an eyesore or two demolished and a poor, run-down area of town improved.

But this is jam in twenty years’ time, not even tomorrow – and it ignores the problem known as West Street, which borders one side of the scheme.

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Councillor Skinner has notionally slimmed his cabinet down by conflating his job as leader with his existing portfolio for regulatory services.

But as we remarked last week – the unreliability of WorstWeb, the borough website, often raises more question than it answers.

Depending where you look, we either have a portfolio holder for finance, or we don’t.

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But we think that Councillor Skinner needs to do more. The cabinet needs a spring clean as not all its members are pulling their weight in our humble opinion. The only drawback with that lies in the question “where do you find the people with the right skills and quality?”
The Tory group has pretty well exhausted all the possible choices. And the opposition – for all its mouthings-off would struggle to find suitable candidates as well.

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What worries us more than anything is the fear that after all the recent upheavals and unpleasantness that we have seen we will still be on the receiving end of the same old sour-tasting mixture as before.

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So – we’ve had the DAFTAs.

What next, we wonder?

The Boscars?

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A final word about council tax.

As we’ve already mentioned, Worst Street wants another 2.05%  – which we expect to be hyped as the act of a generous council seeking to spare our bank balance … even though the small print is packed with padding that will take far more from us, notably a minimum 50% increase in the cost of collecting our garden waste.

Lincolnshire County Council has come up with a proposed rise of 1.5%, plus an additional 2% for adult social care which will add £45 to the cost of an average Band D property.

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But as with last year, Lincolnshire Police top the list.

Last Friday, Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones was granted a 4.1% increase in the force’s share of council tax for the coming financial year – which will also see the PCC standing for re-election.

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Quite how he might explain his retreat on promises from year to year would be interesting to hear, although an account of the meeting suggest that it didn't come up.

This was what he said in his report to the Police and Crime panel when spelling out his police precept plans for the current financial year 2019/20.

No doubts there.

Whilst we may struggle to find a rise in double figures for 2019/20 – after that we can breathe easy with a paltry (by comparison) 2%.

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But this is what he told last Friday’s meeting that set the precept for the coming financial year.

Why on earth should we believe that, we ask?

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We have a couple of Pilgrimages to make during the remainder of the month, so our blogging may well be affected.

But rest assured that if it matters, you’ll read about it in Boston Eye.

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