Tory Councillors with blighted CV's

Councillor Tom Davey,
Councillor Daniel Seal,
Councillor Darryl Yawitch,
Councillor Sachin Rajput,
Councillor Stephen Sowerby,
Councillor Andrew Stongolou,
Councillor Reuben Thompstone,

All of these Councillors have one thing in common they are (compared to the rest of the Tory group) fairly young. Presumably all of them will have to work for a good few years. Presumably, at some point they will all want to change jobs and get better jobs. In this day and age, what is the first thing prospective employers do? Yup, that's right they fire the name into Google and see what the candidates have been up to. It's quite likely, given the ranking of this blog, that this will be fairly near the top of the rankings.

So what have these young men been doing? What should a potential employer take into consideration? Well they are all members of the Barnet Conservative group. They all have over a years experience of watching the way the group operates and they all have (as of the time of writing this blog) the opportunity to change the direction in which the council policy is going, when they take part in an election for the new leader later this month.

So if you are a potential employer, what sort of person are you looking for? Are you looking for someone who sits on their hands, knowing that the council is embarking on a disasterous policy. Are you looking for someone who totally ignores the fact that the council cannot manage external contractors, yet is dead set on massively ramping up the outsourcing program without even having proper controls in place for the existing contracts (READ THIS BLOG). Are you looking for someone who is more concerned with "following the party line" and simply collecting generous allowances?

In the past five years, Barnet Council has been dogged with scandal after scandal. Warnings about problems are habitually ignored and massive financial disasters have plagued the council, with no one prepared to take responsibility. Anyone familiar with Barnet Council would know that a semi competent politician with any degree of political nous and management ability could easily resolve many of the self inflicted wounds. Windsor and Maidenhead Council, which is a Conservative Council, have lead the way with transparency policies, which have saved taxpayers millions and put an end to all manner of potential abuse. Some of these Councillors will not even allow their register of interests to be placed on line

http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/council/listcouncillorinterests.asp

What  does this tell you about them? Whilst I have no doubt that all of these councillors stood for the best possible reasons, what aptitude have they shown since they were elected? In the last year, a massive scandal concerning the Metpro Group of Companies and the contracts awarded to them has befallen Barnet Council. Over a million pounds was paid to one of these companies, despite the fact that it didn't have the required license and went bankrupt, owing hundreds of thousands of pounds. The Council only found out when local bloggers alerted them. How many of these Councillors demanded an independent inquiry? Not one. Every single one of them voted in favour of an "internal audit" undertaken by the same people who allowed the cock up to occur.

Now as I write this, I have no idea who will win the Barnet Conservative Leadership battle. At present the two main contenders are Councillor Andrew Harper, who has been in effective control for the last six months and has presided over the Metpro Disaster. He is widely recognised as being a bit of a pushover for council officers and amounts to the "more of the same" candidate. The other candidate is the infamous Councillor Brian Coleman, who has turned expense claims into an art form. Now another candidate may emerge. If they do, then I'm sure that the whole of Barnet will breathe a sigh of relief.

It may be these councillors rescue their reputations and elect a decent leader who institues real change in Barnet, banishing the secrecy culture for once and all. If after you've read all of the other news about Barnet Council, you still feel like interviewing them, ask them what they personally have done to implement transparency at Barnet. Ask them what they think of colleagues who refuse to allow their register of interests on line. Ask them what they think of colleagues who claim excessive expenses. Finally ask them what they would do if they had the chance to change piss poor leadership in an organisation they were involved with.

I'm sure that they will all be most chuffed to answer these questions. The people who elected them, in Barnet would also like to know, after all, we pay the juicy allowances.