Tory leader: 'Councillors know lesss than my cat'
A LEADING city politician has branded council meetings a waste of time after it was revealed he had only attended 13 per cent of committee meetings since last April.
Rene Kinzett, who leads the Conservative group on Swansea Council also hit out at fellow councillors, who he said "know less than my cat" about what the council is doing.
Of the 72 councillors elected the last time Swansea voters went to the polls, 27 had an attendance record which fell below 50 per cent.
Townhill residents may feel they are being under represented at meetings by their three councillors, with Billy Jones turning up for 23 out of 69 (33 per cent), David Hopkins seven out of 46 (15 per cent) and Nick Bradley just eight out of 55 meetings (15 per cent).
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Councillor Bradley was unavailable for comment.
Councillor Jones defended his record. He said: "I have been ill since Christmas and it is pretty restrictive. We will all try to improve our record, but what people don't realise is the amount of work we all do in the ward. My priority is being in the ward as much as I can."
The biggest offender, however, was Conservative group leader Rene Kinzett, who only showed up to 13 per cent of committee meetings.
However, despite only going to 12 out of 91 meetings, Councillor Kinzett was defiant, saying a number of them were pointless.
He said: "The member support and development working group is a total waste of time. It does not make any decisions whatsoever. What is the point in attending meetings that have no decision-making powers?
"The constitution working group is another talking shop. Nothing of any use ever comes out of this meeting. A lot of councillors sit around creating a lot of hot air."
He added: "I have good attendance at council, which is the only place I can properly hold this Lib Dem-run council to account."
Councillor Kinzett said that not only were some of the meetings a waste of time, but criticised some of the elected members taking part.
He said: "Much of the time spent in meetings in County Hall is an utter waste of time — pointless pontificating by councillors who know less than my cat about much of what they are considering. If people really knew how decisions were made at County Hall, they would be horrified.
"Meetings are also held during the working day — most start at either 10am or 11am or in the afternoon, at 2pm. This is no good if you work or have other responsibilities such as daytime childcare. It ends up being only the retired, the unemployed or the unemployable who stand to become councillors."
Council leader Chris Holley said the outburst from Councillor Kinzett was an attempt to defend the indefensible.
"The diatribe is what you would expect from Rene," he said.
"He's just trying to defend himself for not living in the city and not attending meetings. It is very sad that he has had to revert to this kind of name calling — it does nobody any good.
"What he doesn't seem to realise is that there are a lot of good people working hard on the council, even if he doesn't."
Councillor Kinzett said his job in London meant he had to attend meetings in the capital "as and when I need to."
Comments
by Cllr. Veronyca Bates Huhges, Cockett, Swansea
Tuesday, January 27 2009, 3:55PM
“As a Swansea Councillor I would like to make the following points:
firstly, the idea that being a housewife somehow precludes a person from having the ability to be an effective councillor is both insulting and incaredibly chauvanistic. I did hope that in this day and age we wouldn't be subjected to such purile remarks.
secondly, to all those people who constantly slag of the Council, I would throw out the following challenge:: stand for election yourself as you seem so sure you could do better. With any luck you might get elected.”
by Jayne, swansea
Saturday, January 24 2009, 5:51PM
“Some councillors word hard outside of their day jobs for the community available at unsociable hours spending more time with the people (the supposed priority) assisting them to sort their problems than sat in a council chamber. Perhaps the council would have far more dedicated people in the council if they had a policy of holding meetings to accommodate those that work or have young families. It may also make a change for people like myself to see their comments in the letter page if Mr Sheridan who must be paid by the evening post considering his letters are published almost every night had a night off.”
by Billy, Swansea
Saturday, January 24 2009, 3:55AM
“Thankyou for your concern Pat but as Derrick's neighbour, I can assure that he's being very well looked after and I'm sure that both himself & Councillor Kinzett would be more than happy for you and the Cat Protection League to stop by and see for yourselves... hey, if you catch him on a good day, he may even open a tin of Kitty Cat for you (Derrick that is.)”
by Nubbo, West Glam
Friday, January 23 2009, 10:15PM
“Come back
Councillor Ray Welsby
All is forgiven .......
He's Pu rrrrrrrrrrrrrrfect for
the job !”
by Gwyn, Swansea
Friday, January 23 2009, 10:03PM
“More vicious BILE from Jim Sheridan. Why is it that Lib Dems are always sio nasty and vicious towards anyone who doesn't do as they say.”
by carol lynne griffiths., swansea
Friday, January 23 2009, 10:02PM
“HRJones i agree with you,it's a total disgrace. i as a parent sat in on a council meet back in october, and they were worst than the 12 children we had with us, aged from 3 to 11.have you ever tried to contact your local councillor one that actually lives in swansea. i have, and it took 80 plus emails and a hand written letter before i got a reply. i also agree tha if they had any conscience then they should resign and let someone who care's about swansea and what is happening to take over. someone who is willing to listen to the people and their need's and not just to one or two people. also if they are unable to attened council meeting then they should not be paid for them, also if they are sick where is the sick paper, if i was sick from my job i would need one,maybe we should be paying them by the hour then maybe they would do more.instead of taking the money and doing very little.i know next time we have to vote i will be thinking very carefully of who i vote for.”
by Jon Howes, Sketty Park
Friday, January 23 2009, 6:51PM
“Assuming Swansea West Resident's numbers are correct. I for one think we should be grateful that these people only appear to turn up about 60% of the time on average imagine how much worse a state we'd be in if they turned up 100% of the time!”
by Anon, Swansea
Friday, January 23 2009, 6:28PM
“At last someone with the b s
to tell the truth!”
by James Sheridan, Swansea
Friday, January 23 2009, 5:38PM
“Since when did Rene Kinzet know anything about Pussies, other than he has joined his fellow Tory Fat Cats in London!? The fact is, Rene Kinzet is supposed to represent the people of his Ward. How can he fully do this if he works in London!? He probably has an address he 'stays' at during the his working week, so it is likely that he spends more time in and probably cares more about, his 'activities' in London than his elected responsibilities in Swansea. True, most Councillors do attend to Ward issues that the Electorate have in addition to Councillors Committee work, yet this is, as far as I am aware, not an accessible statistic that the people of Swansea can gain access too. In any event, Councillors should attend Committees they are supposed to attend and if this means some Comittees have to be in the Evenings or at Week-ends, so be it, unless Swansea Council is not a 'flexible' organisation, then Councillors should work for a collective solution, and not just to willingly 'run off' to London for work and expect the Electorate to understand their reasons for their own selfishness in Council Office.
Was Rene Kinzet honest with his Ward Electorate when he ran for Election, that he would be working in London post Election? Rene Kinzet cannot hold the Lib Dem run Council to account if he does not spend most of his time here or does he rely on second hand information from his Swansea based elves!? Rene Kinzet is treating the people of Swansea with disrespect and insulting our collective intelligence with his 'lame Tory duck' excuses. As an ex-Lib Dem himself, he has not just back stabbed ex-colleagues he now appears to back stab the people of Swansea! At least in London, he is in the 'Capital of Stabbers'!
With reference to the Townhill Ward Councillors, Billy Jones is retired and still cannot find the time to attend Committee meetings. Only Billy Jones and David Hopkins have attended key resident meetings such as PACT and MATCHO. After August last year, Nick Bradley, a former 'poodle' of Swansea AM, Andrew Davies, failed to attend any PACT or MACHO event. It is my understanding, he, like Rene Kinzet, also works in London and the same applies to him as to Rene Kinzet, he should attend Committeee meetings he is supposed to attend, as the Townhill Ward, like Rene Kinzet's Ward, is currently to all intents and purposes, under represented if Council Members cannot have such face-to-face meetings with the Electorate or attend meetings.
Clearly, the Rene Kinzets of this world, are happy to give third rate Council representation to the people of Swansea. The thing is, are we the people of Swansea, willing and able, to voice our opinions for changes of hearts, minds and hands of our Elected Members, in order for our city to function efficiently and effectively!?
Jim Sheridan”
by Keith Poulton, Killay
Friday, January 23 2009, 5:30PM
“The council has demonstrated no interest in protecting the Palace Theatre despite approaches on several occassions. Rene has worked hard on the project and achieved far more on the project outside of council meetings.
There are far more important things that our counsellors can do for their wards and Swansea in general by attending only meetings where matters can be acted upon. To be effective our representatives must be well connected both inside and outside of the wards. Rene has proved that he has many valuable connections that help him to thoroughly understand issues and then make wheels turn for the people he represents. He desrves our support.
Don't let idle gossip knock down the very people who should be higher up the ladder. Look at achievement and get some of the people in decision making positions to start making tough decisions.
Statistics paint stories that often hide the full story and the Swansea West Resident who wrote including all the attendances at meetings earlier paints a bit more of the picture. There must be many reasons why so many council members don't attend meetings but decision making action performance does appear to be a dismal failure.”