Correct Use Of Public Money - Mayor Making In Skegness?

Some of you may be aware that each year when the Mayorship of Skegness passes from the present incumbent to the new one there is a Mayor Making event, which is normally a dinner at one of the local hotels with entertainment. You may know that the incoming Mayor invites family, friends and colleagues to the event. What you may not know is that the council tax payers of Skegness largely fund it. Is this a correct use of public money?

The sum of £2,000 of public money is now put aside to pay for the event. This is a reduction on previous years but it is still £2,000 of your money!

I know of no other community within the county that has a tax payer funded event of this sort to celebrate the change of appointment.

During my time as a councillor, during which I attended one of these "doos" on the day I first became a councillor and before I understood that the event was funded by the tax-payer, I questioned this practice and made it quite clear that I thought that it was time it ceased as, given the parlous state of the public finances, there seems no supportable reason for the event to happen.

Various arguments were put forward regarding the fact that this is a tradition and that the dinner allows the incoming Mayor to raise money for his or her Mayoral charities but I am afraid I don't find those arguments strong enough to make me believe that spending money on the event is the correct thing to do. Tradition has its place but should not over-ride the financial imperatives of the present situation and there are plenty of opportunities for Mayors to raise funds for their chosen charity. If an incoming Mayor wishes to celebrate his or her elevation to the office then the funding of the celebration should be their own responsibility.

I am aware that the photograph of the mayoral chain shown within this article is not of the Skegness chain of office but I could not find a photograph of it without it being worn by one of the recipients. I did not use any of those photos as I didn't want to give the impression that I was "having a go" at any person, present, recent or in the past who has had the honour of being elected to the office of Mayor but at the practice itself.

In my opinion it really is time for this practice to stop and for the public funds used to pay for this event, or part pay for it in some cases, to be used for the benefit of the residents of Skegness!

Lincolnshire Beaches Amongst The Best In Europe.

Fantastic news this morning that the beaches in Skegness, Mablethorpe and Sutton On Sea have again been awarded the Blue Flag.

The Blue Flag is awarded for beaches, marinas and boating tourism operators as a statement of the high environmental and quality standards they maintain. The Blue Flags are awarded on an annual basis. It is the work of the local East Lindsey District Council operators that maintain the highest of standards and they should be thoroughly congratulated for there wonderful efforts. Out in all weathers from early morning until late in the evening they fight the good fight to keep our beaches in a pristine condition.

There are miles and miles of golden, sandy beaches stretching from Skegness north to Mablethorpe and beyond which are enjoyed by millions of visitors annually. Long may this continue. 

Central beach Skegness. Blue Flag awarded!

Let's now see the flags proudly displayed above our wonderful coastline and let's use the fine achievement of the continuing award as an attraction in its own right. 

Lincoln City FC - Reinstate the Stacey West Please!

Now. I am not a fan of locating myself in the Stacey West stand at Sincil Bank. For me the view is not what I am looking for but for many that is not the case.

The Stacey West Stand pre-match

The Stacey West, remember it is named after Bill Stacey and Jim West two life-long Imps fans who tragically lost their lives in the horrific Bradford fire, has always been viewed as a "home-stand" and should be regarded as just that. In my mind it has always been a rather perverse idea that it should be used for away fans and I know that I am far from alone in that belief.

When the decision to give the stand to the "away fans" was made the major effect was to move the "617 Squadron" into the upper tier of the Co-Op despite the resistance of many to the decision. "617" have never really sat, or should I say stood, comfortably there and there have been problems. Thankfully, these problems have been overcome but the feeling still remains that the Co-Op is not their proper home. Love them or not they are the noise generators and the atmosphere generators in the ground and having them tucked away in their present location does detract from their efforts, in my opinion. I am certain that if they were given the opportunity to return "home" to the Stacey West then hands would be bitten off!

There should be little difficulty housing away fans somewhere else within Sincil Bank, especially given the very small numbers in the majority of cases, that teams in the National League bring with them. The song fondly sung by "617" "You should have come in a taxi", bares witness to that. Do we really need the whole of the Stacey West to house, with very few exceptions, 30 or 50 away fans?

"617 Sqn" in full cry

My understanding of the decision to change the use of the stand was financial. It would save money on stewarding costs. When that decision was made I personally accepted it because of the financial position of the club which was, let us say, fairly fragile but that is no longer the case.

With the arrival of our new management duo there appears to be an uplift in positivity around the club and there is expected to be an uplift in attendance figures at the ground, which admittedly, have been less than one would like to see over the last few seasons. A deal of positivity would be added to the upswell if the Stacey West was returned to its natural use.

There seems to be little reason for the Stacey West not to be returned to the home fans, so come on Lincoln City. Let's see a sensible decision that will please a majority of your supporters, especially among the younger element who are the lifeblood of the club going forward.

"STACEY WEST FOR HOME SUPPORTERS IN 2016/17"

Lincoln City FC. The Only Way Is Essex!

Welcome to the Cowley brother Danny and Nicky to Sincil Bank. I was unable to attend the Fans Forum on Friday evening last but I have managed to watch all the footage of it. Cowley's seem to have their heads screwed on and their recent successes at other clubs would tend to support that view. I was a bit put off by all the management speak that was evident in their answers to supporters questions but that is probably just a bit of a phobia of mine. Having worked in the NHS for the best part of 10 years some time ago management speak does tend to make me shiver.

Danny and Nicky Cowley. Photo - Lincolnshire Echo.

Liked the positivity that the brothers showed though. I really do hope they help to lift the club away from the depths of the last few seasons. Chris Moyses started that process over the last 2 seasons and it was very good to hear Danny acknowledge that at the forum.

Lincoln City, despite the sour grapes from the Braintree Town chairman, are by far the biggest club that the Cowleys have managed and the expectations of the fans match the size of the club. I hope the weight of that expectation does not impair the new management duo. The fans of Lincoln City, probably like most fans at most other clubs, can be extremely fickle and I am not sure Danny and Nicky will have encountered that before. Give them a break guys!

Bring on next season and after, hopefully, a good summer with new signings strengthening the squad of players and those players buying into the plans and outlook of the new management team, we will see a lot of improvement on the field and a modicum of success coming the way of the long-suffering Imps fans.

Here's to you Danny and Nicky Cowley. All the best and I wish you well!

The Russians Liking This!

Fascinated that all of a sudden I am getting a really big interest in this blog from Russia. I wonder why that is? Is it because they like the thought of being able to follow ELDC in the imposition of a completely unfair car parking payment regime? I don't really know but something appears to have peaked their interest. I can just see Mr Putin standing up in the Politburo and explaining why some parts of Russia can have free car parking and others can't. Would he get away with it? Well based upon what has happened in East Lindsey I don't see any reason why not!

Free parking for some but not others? Yes I think that will work. Moscow perhaps but not the Black Sea coast.
Oh No!

This is a chart showing from which parts of the world this blog has been viewed. As you can see Russia is extremely prominent! Dobroye utro Rossiya!

Mother Russia