General Discussion
On the contrary, I attend numerous evening meetings, a good example is the planning meeting I attended tonight! I use the term paid employment to differentiate from voluntary employment, I assume you know and understand the difference.
@Likeablerat , the point i was making is that all the meetings to discuss and firm up the budget are organised by the chair of f&gp and, at his choosing, are held during the day so those of us in paid employment cannot normally attend. i have on several occasions voiced my concerns but to no avail. as councillors we do get to see a draft of the budget in papers issued before the february meeting, ...
The budget setting meeting MC refers to on 6th December at 13.02 is the Town Council meeting in February. All the work has been done by then by a small group of F&GP members who can attend afternoon meetings, which of course precludes most members who are in paid employment. So far, one meeting held in November and one being held this week, both afternoon meetings.
It really is good to see that at last one budget setting meeting is in the evening, progress. Many councillors who are in paid employment also have caring duties and volunteering duties but it really is important that meetings are placed so as many can attend as possible, the same applies for the NP steering group.
Lynne makes a valid point regarding the timing of the meetings. It is an issue some councillors face as more and more meetings, such as the budget setting meetings, are held during the day, disenfranchising the 50% of councillors who are in paid employment.
@Dorian , I think I score highly on points one and two. I certainly do not cave into bullying tactics from you or anyone else. I attend as many meetings as possible and make positive contributions. For the record, when the recently agreed proposals for Dawlish Warren were presented to DTC in 2012 I was NOT a member of the planning committee.
Thanks to Lynne and David for bringing to our attention some critical information relevant to this issue. Recently someone did point out, I think it was Lynne, that the people of Dawlish and the wider parish are receiving very mixed messages. On the one hand they are told that the extension to the Exe Estuary cycle route is critical to further improve tourism for Dawlish Warren and Dawlish and ...
This was the first out of four programmes.
I didn't say I can't manage the job, I said I could not get to every meeting. About 50% of the town councillors are in paid employment, which I think is good.
@Dorian , four of the nine councillors above are in paid employment so are not always available to attend meetings.
