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Friday, December 21, 2012

Confidence or no-confidence

Following Ms Timms unacceptable-to-the-council behaviour on Cue TV, where she impersonated a struggling young mum named 'Ruby' and denied the obvious deception when pressed by Invercargill mayor, Tim Shadbolt, the council has resolved to meet in January to deal with the question of her suitability as chairman of the council. It seemed obvious to me that any vote taken at that meeting would be one of no-confidence in the chairman, as a result of her behaviour, providing an opportunity for those who feel she should go to vote that way, and those who want her to stay to vote against the motion, but no, it turns out that the Acting Chairman, Nichol Horrell has proposed a vote of confidence in Ms Timms! I've always thought such a vote was taken when a council was looking to praise and reward its chair or mayor, for a job especially well done, a kind of official 'pat on the back'. Clearly that's not what should be happening here, if I am right in my interpretation. Still, we shall see. Legal advice has been sought and that should clarify the correctness or otherwise of Mr Horrell's move.

*Up-date:
The legal advice was returned this afternoon and they made this point:

" We have never come across a vote of confidence in the context of local government previously, so cannot comment on what it typically means in local government."

That tells me the proposal for a 'vote of confidence' is unprecedented, unusual and untested in local government. Why on earth would we use it then?




10 comments:

darkhorse said...

because you are dealing wihth a bunch of muppets

robertguyton said...

Does that make me...Kermit?

robertguyton said...

Actually, it makes me despair.

darkhorse said...

time for you to ask for commissioners to be out in rg/kermit (too close to the truth!)- the model is broken - democracy at rc level is a farce and no one wins - bad outcome for farmers and bad outcome for the environment

but otherwise what a beautiful day

robertguyton said...

A selfless act from the chair would fix a lot of ills there, darkhorse.
However, she's declared that she won't resign. There are good councillors around that table. If the whole council was as rational as they are, the region would be well served. I haven't given up hope, but the results of the vote will be critical to the future of the council, in my amphibious, clammy-skinned opinion.

darkhorse said...

unfortunately miss piggy is a selfish bully

robertguyton said...

Your muppet-self, darkhorse?

Gonzo the Great, I'm picking:-)

darkhorse said...

a frighteningly accurate facsimile of the same - the only muppet not to be modelled on some one

darkhorse said...

In The Muppet Show television series, Kermit was the central character, the frontman and the long-suffering stage manager of the theatre show, trying to keep order amidst the chaos created by the other Muppets. Jim Henson once claimed that Kermit's job on the Muppet Show was much like his own: "trying to get a bunch of crazies to actually get the job done."

straight from wikipedia

robertguyton said...

It's not easy being green :-)