Why do we have to pay extra cost of mayor?
WE were all asked to vote for a mayor of Greater Manchester. This seemed to be very democratic at the time. However, several questions, in retrospect, have arisen:
1. When did we vote to have a mayor in the first place?
2. What was wrong with having the leader of the majority party being declared as the duly-elected leader of Greater Manchester?
3. Had we been fully informed what the true implications of this entailed, would we have still voted accordingly?
4. If we had been asked before the election, would we have all consented to have this additional level of bureaucracy imposed upon us?
5. How is this mayor able to unexpectedly demand £10 or more (‘Every household in Greater Manchester is going to be charged around £10 to pay for the mayor, M.E.N., January 18) for unpopular ‘improvements’ when we really need greater support for the homeless, police and emergency services, road repairs, reassessment of unnecessary bus lanes, drug problems in public places, public transport, NHS support, etc.?
6. Why, when we have a democratically-elected council, with a democratically-declared council leader for our council, does this leader not already have the ultimate power to act according to his mandate, according to his electorate instead of the mayor?
7. By what right or legislation is this mayor able to demand an extra charge, in addition to council tax, which has already been legally pegged at a maximum of four per cent?
8. Does this mean that we are obliged to stump up even more cash?
9. Why, in this time of austerity and cut-backs, are we obliged to pay for this totally unnecessary bureaucratic burden? RM Greave, Stockport