Councillor defends £14k allowance
A LLANELLI county councillor has defended his pay, which sees him pocket nearly £1,000 each time he attends a council meeting.
Councillor John Jenkins, of Elli ward, received £14,476.04 in allowances last year for attending just 15 formal council meetings.
Councillor Jenkins did not claim any travelling or subsistence expenses over the same period.
At the other end of the league table of meetings attended by Carmarthenshire councillors is council leader Meryl Gravell, who attended 191 formal meetings for her £47,181 allowance, plus £768 travel expenses and £113 subsistence expenses.
Councillor Jenkins, who is not aligned to any of the main political parties, said the figure was "slightly misleading, taking into account all the other things I do as a councillor."
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by Sue, Llanelli
Wednesday, June 17 2009, 4:41PM
“West Wales Spy or West Wales suck up?”
by Marc, Carmarthenshire
Monday, June 15 2009, 3:11PM
“Councillor John Jenkins opinion that county council meetings are "stuffy" seriously brings into question his suitability to represent the constituents of Elli ward; not only has his attendance of 15 meetings in the past year cost nearly £1000 per visit, but on 13th May he failed to attend a crucial monthly meeting discussing the East Gate Development - Llanelli town's regeneration project. Why did he stand for council if he was not prepared to give up other employment in order to fulfil his basic role as councillor? He should stand down!”
by steve, hendy
Sunday, June 14 2009, 6:36AM
“reject nimys llanelli
i would disagree, how can you say that attending meetings can do nothing to improve your ward? take a look at the county council minutes for 13th may 2009
item 21 the full council discussed the regeneration of the llanelli town centre, and guess what there was no sign of john jenkins at that meeting
surely as a llanelli town councillor and mayor of councillor he should have been there to represent the people of the town and ward, there was a recorded vote of the decision and john's name doesn't appear in the minutes”
by Reject NIMBY's, Llanelli
Saturday, June 13 2009, 11:49AM
“People are elected to represent their ward and do right by them. Anyone who knows how council's work would see that attending much of the meetings does nothing to improve your ward. You cannot also compare backbench councillors to executive board members who attend huge numbers of meetings because it comes with the turf. Perhaps the councils in order to encourage more candidates who work rather than old fogies who live to attend meetings, should consider changing the times of meetings so that people who work can get there. Let's have some common sense and allow our representative to get evening meetings. I'm sure the attendance would improve then...but of course all the people are retired, it would interrupt their days.”
by Tax, Carm
Friday, June 12 2009, 5:52PM
“This story is not a slur but the plain Truth, this councillor is only looking after his own interest , he is claiming what he can from us the tax payers. for not doing what he was voted in for, to look after us in attending council meetings, Not just 15. So the Papers are right to print this story.”