Cllr Stephen BroadhurstYou couldnt make it up with these Thanet Tories.
Story from Your Thanet
A Tory councillor is taking an extended business holiday in Central America but says he will still continue to serve the Margate residents he represents.Cllr Stephen Broadhurst is adamant he can represent the people of the Dane Valley ward from Panama, thousands of miles from the UK.He said: “I will still be representing Dane Valley. I have to go out there in the middle of next month to sort out some business. “This will probably be my fourth time there. Usually I go for a week, maybe ten days at the most, but it depends what happens when I get there. He added: “I can’t say too much as it’s to do with business.”Cllr Broadhurst, who runs a security and facilities management company, is planning a business trip to Central America and said he could not even rule out moving there in the future.He said: “Whether I’m moving there or not is another matter. I will know more when I come back, but until I have sorted that I don’t know for sure. Once I have sorted that out, I will meet with the rest of the guys and decide where we go from there.”Cllr Broadhurst has represented Dane Valley since the last Thanet council elections in the ward in May 2007.He was elected to serve with fellow Conservatives Cllr Edwin Watt-Ruffell and Cllr Michael Jarvis.The three seats were held by two Labour councillors and one Tory.The previous members for the ward prior to May 2007 were Shaun Connell, Roy Ford and Ian Gregory.
35 comments:
That story is from Your Thanet not the KM Extra...
if we were really lucky Cllr Green and Cllr Mrs Green could go as well
I have to disagree with you 17.19. There are two, far more deserving Councillors, who would benefit all of us by making a speedy departure to far away places. I think the Chinese called them President and Vice President?
It says it's from YourThanet and I was the person who passed the story to young Tom Betts.
Green with envy jumps to mind rather than stuck in Thanet!
Could someone please explain the problem, surely someone is entitled to have a life outside the council
this comes into the so what category
So what in deed. Councillors are not paid to be full time and are entitled to time for business interests. What is ridiculous is the claim to be able to represent his constituents from there.
The phone bill wiating to connect to the TDC switchboard would cost a fortune alone!
Let's suppose, Tony, I am one of Cllr. Broadhurst's ward constituents. I have a major problem with housing, say, and I find Cllrs Jarvis and Watt-Ruffell are in council meetings/on holiday/not able to help/I don't like them or whatever. I have a third councillor to contact but, hey, I'll have to phone Panama to get hold of him. 'Fine', he says, 'I'll help you from 3000 miles away'. There's no problem his having a business so long as he can also serve his ward. There's a Garlinge councillor who works in Dartford who can't do much to help as he's commuting most of the week. Bet he's not the only one who has a busy life but is only available at the weekends.
This would simply appear to be a story spun out of some loose comments, beautifully blown out of proportion. What is actually said is that some business trips take place, and there is no reason why they should stop representation, particularly in a multi member ward, and that the position will be reconsidered if Stephen actually decided to move out there.
That all seems perfectly straightforward, until the headline writers and blog scrawlers get hold of it. OK I understand the temptation of the headline, but David sometimes its easier just to tell it as it is. With regard to your carrying the poster for the China Gateway meeting, you do not make it clear that is what you are doing until into the comments - the headline and story impression could well be taken differently, that's the point.
You and I have debated your headline writing of this type before I think, and you blamed the sub editors....how convenient it is to be able to divide yourself up in such a manner!
Ok anon 0750, you raise an old debate. Should Councillors only be relatively well off, with private income (or equivalent public service pension); younger, but with therefore greater commitments; better paid, as a full time job, which attracts very different people?
Democracy may not be perfect, and is not terribly well paid at District level (or even at county level for the time commitment), but has been thought to be better than the alternatives of well paid career politicians.
A banana republic because a Councillor goes on a business trip abroad. Perhaps a little over the top Cllr Green? As for the point of representing his constituents, youve clearly never heard of email, which is strange since you have to be on the internet to be able to read this comment...
I thought the Members Portal was an online email and information system for Councillors, which surely can be accessed from any internet connection regardless of where the connection is from?
But your thanet is a bit like steve ladyman's netrail, an organisation with no forward plan, and no sense of truth. David you are sounding like a whinging old git
Anonymous said, thats because he is a whinging old git
And how much does Cllr watt Ruffel owe the Margate Charter trustees because he sesigned as deputy mayor last time!
So panama is a banana republic, Is this the same panama that was taken over by america and run by their puppet government?
Shows how much the Labour Party value our 'special relationship' with America
Thanks Iris. Can't resist having a stab can you. Makes a change to have the knives coming your way for a change?
James, Cllr. Broadhurst may well have access to e-mail in Panama but have you considered that many of his ward residents may not? If you are very elderly with housing or benefit difficulties to sort out you need someone at the end of a telephone or who can be contacted easily by letter.
This councillor is changing his story and it's now different to the one he's telling friends and neighbours. Why?
Cllr. Wells,
Cllr.Broadhurst has a security firm so what business interests could there be in Panama? Does he speak Spanish? Do the Panamanians need a security firm set up there? Too many questions still on this one.
Anonymous 18:42, made an unsubstantiated accusation concerning Cllr Broadhurst. Unless he/she identifies themselves or substantiates the comment, it will remain removed
09:48, he said he will still be representing Dane Valley, which he can. Your argument doesnt refute the point I made since he can still be contacted. There are three Councillors in Dane Valley so its not like the residents are completely missing out. Those without internet can call Cllrs Jarvis or Watt-Ruffell.
James, back on defending the Tories again, it seems. I thought you said last week, James, you had left them in 2007. Sudden change of heart?
Why does Dane Valley have three councillors rather than two? Because of the size of the ward so presumably there's too much work for two. I don't know about the efforts put in by the other two but think if they serve on committees like Planning, they need another colleague's assistance in the ward. Hard-working councillors are needed and much valued in their ward and get re-elected, usually.
It does make me laugh how tory councillors like chris wells and simon moores come out of the woodwork to make petty remarks about a supposedly misleading (to them) post about a chinagate meeting, but say nothing about the REAL issue. what about the rumoured leadership challenges in the local tory party? what about the police investigation? what about the simon day case?
If you believe it is OK for a Tory Councillor to push off and live abroad, James, and represent his constituents by email, then perhaps that explains why you were rejected by the electorate last year. And rightly so.
'It's not like the residents are completely missing out' says James Maskell. So, it's ok for an elected official taking home about £4000 to clear off to another part of the world whilst still drawing down his allowance, is it?
Is this what democracy is about in Thanet? Wake up, James. Stop being the Tory Party's apologist here and accept that Cllr. Broadhurst will find it difficult to justify taking our tax-payers' money while he sits in the tropical sun of Central America with his Spanish dictionary or is it that the local Tories don't want a by-election in this ward where previously Labour was the main party of choice?
Perhaps some of you should actually read what is posted first before responding.
13:24, your point would work if every ward has the same proportion of work as it were. Certain parts of Thanet have more problems than others. Just because some wards have more people in doesnt mean there has to be more work.
Hes not decided to move abroad. Should he chose to do so then a by-election could be called for. Hes going away for around 10 days.
Councillors go on holidays all the time, or take time out from doing Council work, but they dont call a by-election, nor is it even newsworthy for such a holiday such as this to be reported like this. If everytime a Councillor went on holiday, they had to call a by-election, it would become an absolute farce.
So because I dont work for the Tories I must as a rule criticise them every single time and disagree with their every word??? As for the rest, that remains to be seen. As far as we know hes going away for around 10 days for business. If he chooses to move then thats his choice.
This has all blown up, James, because you and your ex-Tory associates will not say simply that if he permanently relocates - which of course he is free to do - the Tory Group will force him to resign and prompt a by-election immediately. Present it as automatic and the issue will go away. It is "playing the game" that winds everyone up, like Chris Wells referring to his position being "reconsidered". Nice if you all stopped treating the electorate like fools..
Anonymous 08:53
Item removed as it was a repeat of unsubstantiated accusations made earlier.
No, this has all blown up because Cllr David Green posted it here. This isnt even worth the amount of attention its got. Hes going abroad for a while, with the apprent intention of returning. If he choses to move abroad permanently then of course he will have to resign since he wont qualify anymore. But thats not happened. The last comment is clutching at straws here to make a point. This is pretty feeble stuff if this is the strongest hand local Labour is using against the Conservatives. Perhaps they want to talk more about the "UNITY" between Cllrs Johnston and Hart? The only unity Ive seen from Labour is Gordon Brown and a P45 in 2010.
If this doesn't deserve the attention, James, why don't you stop contributing? It is you who is keeping it alive with your customary Tory-defensive rhetoric.
What no-one seems to have picked up is Dave's comparison suggesting Thanet is a banana republic.
You're all so busy arguing over whether or not the councillor is/isn't/may be moving abroad/on a business trip/holiday.
Wikipedia says "a Banana republic is a pejorative term for a small country that is politically unstable, dependent on limited agriculture (e.g., bananas), and ruled by a small, self-elected, wealthy and corrupt clique.[1] It is most commonly used for countries in Central America such as El Salvador, Belize, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala.
In some cases, these nations have kept the government structures that were modeled after the colonial Spanish ruling clique, with a small, largely leisure class on the top and a large, poorly educated and poorly paid working class of peons, though it might have the (fake) trappings of modernity (such as styling itself a republic with a president etc.)
Frequently the subject of mockery and humour, and usually presided over by a dictatorial military junta that exaggerates its own power and importance—"the epaulettes of a banana republic generalissimo" are proverbially of considerable size, usually portrayed in satire with a pair of mops—a banana republic also typically has large wealth inequities, poor infrastructure, poor schools, a "backward" economy, low capital spending, a reliance on foreign capital and money printing, budget deficits, and a weakening currency. Banana republics are typically also highly prone to revolutions and coups."
Not really like Thanet at all is it?
Just think - if Thanet were like a banana republic perhaps we could have a coup to go with it! I thought we were getting one but it all seems to have fizzeled out.
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