bobby47

If I ever was appointed to this Office, I'd have a suit of clothes befitting my status as the Watchdog and I'd be found in a small wooden hut at the back of the Town Hall. My role would be simple and straightforward. To reward good performance and punish those that had underperformed and wasted public funds. I'd interview all the Council tiers of management. And there's lots and lots of them. To many for my liking. They'd come to my hut and I'd, 'Hello what a lovely day' and I'd reassure them that the huge hyper dermic needle containing a generous dose of Sodium Pentaphol would only be accutely painful for some five minutes. Then, after delivering this highly effective truth serum and giving the recipient time to become sedated and unable to defy my will, I'd say, 'Is your role within the Council of benefit to the public', to which they'd no doubt say, 'Excellent question. My job is a complete waste of the publics money. Thank you very much.' I'd then say, 'What would a reasonable person do given that you and your job are pointless?. Of course the answer would be, 'Dismiss me straight away and save yourself a lot of time and expense. I'm a complete waste of time if my opinion is worth a jot' Then after they had recovered I'd give them a slice of Melon and reveal to them the results of my findings informing them that they were sacked. As for the Waster's of Public Funds and I have in mind the inner circle of the Council Leadership (Note..Not you Glenda and no other Independent Councillor) they of course would enter my hut and I'd say,' You did a wonderful job lasty week when you directed Amey to fill in a pothole'. He or she would of course be pleased and reply, 'Thank you very much. Its nice to know I'm appreciated'. And to reward them for their good work I'd give them a piece of chocolate and point out, 'Isnt chocolate lovely. Its Cadburys you know and if you do well there's plenty more where that came from'. But then I'd mention the other things. The things that upset us all. The things that require something other than a piece of Cadburys chocolate. Afterall you'd be a fool to give one of our leaders a piece of chocolate if they'd underperformed or wasted our funds. I'd then say,' you've wasted an awful lot of money recently. The Hereford Sign for example that says 'Here You Can'. He or she would of course understandably argue their point and I of course would be a fool not to hear them out. But then I'd have to punish them for wasting public funds. I'd then deliver my verdict and punish them by shoving their fingers into a domestic household electric socket. They of course would then be compelled to ride the lightening bolt and experience 250 volts coarsing through their body. Mind you, it would'nt be anything terminal. Just ten or fifteen seconds of electricity to encourage them not to waste anymore of our cash. These of course are just ideas. If they dont like chocolate they could have a custard slice or a sweet. I'm also equally open minded about the electric shock treatment. It could be something less intrusive and frightening such as being hit with an instrument across their toes or fingers. What you think?

Well done lad.

Every bloody day is becoming better than the last. If ever there was the wrong time to do this, it's now, just before bloody Christmas. Why not some other time of the year. Lent!. Easter. Bloody Pan cake day. Are this Council leadership on the same page as me. In Gods good name, what are they trying to do to our home?

Can I respectfully request the Councillors who are associated with this forum, give me some idea on what their thoughts are on the very important issue that I have raised. Your views please?

Two Independent Councillors, Mr Hubbard and Mr McCaull have very recently emerged and thrown their weight behind the increasing public opinion that is calling on this Council leadership to change. The punishment for Mr Hubbard is to attend some Council course which will explain to him how important it is to keep a secret and not disclose it to us. I salute Mr Hubbard. As for Mr McCaull, I've yet to hear what his fate is for writing to the Hereford Times and expressing his view that our Council leadership is poor. I salute him. I look forward to other Councillors stepping forward and saying what they think. Of course that step requires a bit of courage and a strong sense of integrity. My warmest regards.

During the past few years I've noticed a worrying increase in the use of children by the Police and the Local Authority, who are recruiting kids, giving them money and tasking them to enter a licensed premises store and purchase alcohol in order to gain evidence to support either a Licence being revoked or a criminal prosecution. These Test Purchases are conducted under the control of the Police and the Trading Standards and at some point following a successful Test Purchase of alcohol, these kids must presumably provide witness statements and their personal details or false names must be incorporated into a file of evidence that will support a criminal prosecution. For all intents and purposes these kids become Covert Intelligence Sources and I suppose, must be filed and logged as Police Informants. Now I ain't no expert on any of this but I do ask myself, 'is this entirely necessary' given that the Police and Trading Standards could quite easily carry out a successful prosecution by simply carrying out observations on the shop and catching a few kids who have purchased alcohol from the Licencee. My worry is that to save the Police and Council a lot of man hours doing these observations, they are taking the easy option and using children. My personal view is that we shouldn't be exploiting children in this way. I accept that some would say the kids are volunteers but when they are that age, do they really know and understand what is being asked of them? I felt this for a long time and I'd bet anybody that one day the wheel is going to come off and this will become a major Policing issue and will be something that we will, with hindsight regret ever doing. I say, leave the kids out of it and get your evidence in another way.

Hello Bill, I'd certainly criticise the Council for not saying a single thing on this issue which is probably the one thing that is uppermost in the minds of everyone. They don't have a problem coming up with some pointless gimmick that none of us care about but they don't say or do a thing to help all of us deal with this conundrum. I'd like them to start thinking about the future community cohesion of our society. They should reach out and create conditions and circumstances where we all integrate and get to know and understand one another better. People can become tied and bound together through Sport, Music, the Arts and simply sitting together having a pint or a coffee. These are simple things that don't cost a thing but do this bloody Council say or do anything? Not a peep or sound!

Hello Bill, I promise you that each and everyone of these Council leaders read the Postings and Letters published by the Hereford Times. For a start, many of them have huge egos and they quite understandably like reading about themselves but, unless its a safe issue and presents them no controversy, they remain silent. They don't want to express anything that shines a light on what they really think. In short, many of our Councillors are good and well meaning people who unfortunately are dominated by much stronger characters and its this dynamic which has weakened the Council and created our rather odd form of democracy that makes you feel like 'they don't take any notice of us'. As for your suggestion that they are named and shamed. Yep! But I'd go further, I'd gather them up, drive them to Haugh Woods, make them eat insects and roll them in nettles and completely ignore their screams, 'I'm a Councillor. For Gods Sake. Get me Out of Here.'

Well done Frank. I've never met you, it's likely I never will but I like you already. Good lad. Now, how do we encourage a few others to emerge from their burrows?

These are strange days indeed. Our society is in a mess, our future is in the hands of a disconnected and incompetent Council leadership and 'we' dont say a word. Not a peep. This social engineering we've all undergone during the past decade or so has stopped us saying anything about almost everything. We appear to have lost any sense of objection. None of you seem to be bothered by these issues. We are lucky to have three Councillors on this forum who would be ideally placed to comment upon this news but.....nothing...........not a peep......not a word from them about this idea or, for that matter, any issue that presents itself as perhaps controversial and may expose a Councillors personal beliefs or opinions. If I were fortunate to be given the Office of Councillor, a considerable achievement for any person in Hereford, I'd be on here expressing my view and offering my opinion. But, we are where we are........not a peep, not an expression of objection. This Issue is one of many on this forum that are very important, not only to the people of Hereford, but also for our future unborn kids. Find some backbone and express your views. We live in a democracy, albeit it dont feel like one for much of the time so...grab a hold of your old self and say something about this and the other issues that are going to affect your future. My very warmest regards to you all.

The problem is Colin, whichever society you look at and no matter what period of history you focus upon, when times are hard, minority groups tend to get the blame for everything. Now, in the case of our home Hereford, times are bad and the County has been subjected to a huge arrival and settlement of people from East Europe who simply want a better life. This has happened through no fault of the East European community or the indigenous local Herefordians. Everyone has to get on with this new reality, integrate and live in peace. There is no word from our political leaders on how to achieve this aim because nobody says a thing. We're just supposed to work it out for ourselves. in the meantime, local people feel left out, ignored and have no means to communicate their worries or concerns. Our political leaders have given us this conundrum to solve and it's down to us, local and East European to think it out for ourselves and try and develop an understanding. Rather than you and I sitting at our keyboards trying to work this impossible problem out, I'd like our Councillor members to tell us what they intend to do. Can they help? My very warmest regards Colin.

No Colin. You are missing my point. This Posting is not about me, my views or whether or not Im a good European. This Posting is entirely about the rapidly growing upset that local people feel toward this vast movement of people from Eastern Europe to Hereford. You can dismiss their concerns about jobs, housing, public services and all the other related issues but that ain't going to help in our future community cohesion, which was the point of my Posting. How can we bring local people and our East European visitors together to avoid the growing friction that now exists.

I note your comment Colin and I wouldn't disagree with anything you've said. The problem is that when, within a very short space of time several thousand people from different cultures arrive and settle in an area like Hereford it is inevitably going to place a huge strain on public services, housing, jobs and social cohesion and its the latter that causes me most concern.

Due to past political social engineering we've all been conditioned to not say anything for fear of being branded a bigot or racist. And now, in homes, pubs, streets, wherever local people gather the one subject that is sure to be muttered is the settlement of the people from East Europe. For my part, I admire and like these people from Eastern Europe. They are well educated, hard working, they do the jobs we no longer want to do and to an employer, they are very reliable and will work for low wages. Personally speaking, if I'd been born under the fist of grinding poverty and the remaining affects of communism, I'd be doing the same thing. I'd be here in Hereford with my family trying for a better future. Who can blame them? But of course, for all these positive things, there are consequences and one is there is a growing intolerance and anger toward the East European people and a view by local Herefordians that they are being taken for granted, our Country is being asset stripped and they cannot say anything because they will be branded a bigot. Local people complain that the East European people are taking all the jobs, much of the social housing and we are haemorrhaging vast sums of money every week when our guests send money home to prop up their home economy's. Our Hereford community is becoming increasingly disconnected from local government and local people feel they have no voice and nowhere to turn to. Personally speaking, I have noticed that this anger is increasing and local people are desperate for change. They feel that their local public services are being swamped and understandably they worry that institutions like the NHS are not going to be there for their grandchildren. Quite simply, I believe that if we go on not talking about the new reality to our changing society then we are going to meet disaster. Somehow or other we have to talk and be able to discuss this issue without any fear of being branded racists or bigots. I want readers to offer their views on what we can do, how we can move forward and how we can communicate genuine concerns to local government and to the East European community without there being any hurt on either side of the issues that are sat in front of our community. More than anything, I want to read constructive comments regarding our future community cohesion rather than mindless ranting and raving.

I'm a bit puzzled. I know I'm new and might be coming across as 'pushy', but this topic is really important. Do you want to contribute toward a Billion Quid incinerator so that the Council can get rid of the mountains of waste they produce day in and day out. It's fine with me if you say, 'Yep. I'd like three of them. Excellent value for money as far as I'm concerned'. Give it some thought folks. this is to important to ignore. My warmest regards.

Gloucester switch their lights off in a number of key areas and they've been doing it for a couple of years. Whenever the lights are off on the ring road that leads to Birdlip there is never a traffic problem and if ever our Council give this suggestion a try, they and we will discover that our traffic congestion problems will be eased.

This is an expensive venture and one which we can't afford. It'd be madness for the Council to sign us up for this at this moment in time. I'd like them to revisit it after we strike gold or if we don't, put it in the pending tray and revisit the issue in about fifty years time.

I know it must be very difficult for serving Councillors to comment upon our fears for Hereford. Perhaps some of them feel as we do. Im sure that they must but somehow or other whatever the dynamics are within the Council, particularly those who have their hands on the levers of power, this has to change and its the Councillors who are sympathetic to our views who can bring about this change. Without some intervention and a change in the way business is conducted, our rapid fall into ruin will only accelerate. We have some serious problems to address and many of those problems are to expensive for us to resolve right now. But there are a thousand and one little things that the Council could do now which wouldn't cost a great deal. Like extending the hours to enable visitors into the City to get some food. Keeping our City clean and tidy, giving some attention to the way we present our home to ourselves and outsiders. A lick of paint here and there can do wonders. The Council only need to grasp the new reality, stop wasting money on pointless gimmicks, stop paying huge consultancy fees, shine some light on their decision making and listen to what we have to say. This Council are charged with leading our communities and to do that they should inspire and tap in to people's hopes for a better future and get the best out of what we still have. If the Council do these things then gradually the cynics will cool, they'll tone down there criticism, people will quickly see that we are doing the right things, there is a sensible course plotted and then our confidence will grow. And when that happens we will recover.

My forthcoming comments are not intended to hurt the feelings of those Councillors on this site who I am sure are hard working and do their best for their constituents. My view is aimed at the collective who I believe lurch from one badly thought out scheme to another. I hope that most readers will accept that we, Our home Hereford, is not flourishing and our recession is compounded by the fact that in the past poor decisions were made that has left us with little or no infrastructure. For my part, I really do resent much of the secrecy that surrounds the decision making of our Council. I feel that the Council are delivering their form of democracy which does not involve our participation. Despite the Hereford Times repeatedly airing stories regarding the Council doing things secretly, they take absolutely no notice of public objection and simply just carry on. The reported waste of our funds by the Council is in my view staggering. They recently commissioned at great expense new signs that are intended to announce to the visitor, HERE WE CAN instead of the old signs that simply said, WELCOME TO HEREFORD. The result was, amongst the cynics which include me, Here we Can what? Have no job. Have no shops. Have no infrastructure. This was a crazy badly thought out gimmick and frankly we have so many problems its pointless for the Council to keep slipping us the public a gimmick. We simply can't afford anymore of this crazy blue sky thinking. I want the Council to wake up to the new reality. We have no more money to waste and we cannot afford to allow this Council to continue leading us all toward the abyss. Once again, my views are not intended to offend the Councillors who are members of this forum. My very warmest regards.