Shame of the money for nothing councillors
IN the last two weeks the Glasgow Times has published two stories that should make those featured in them hang their heads in shame. We reported on former councillor Tony Curtis, who didn’t attend any meetings for six months so automatically lost his position.
He was latterly an independent but was elected as a Conservative councillor at the last council election in 2017.
That year, Mr Curtis was daily going round, not only his own community trying to get people to elect him, but was active in other parts of the city trying to get people to vote for his Conservative colleagues.
Three years later and after he threw his blue rattle out the pram, falling out with his party over an issue that affected him, any promises he made on the doorsteps were history as he abruptly stopped attending council meetings.
He was exasperated that the Conservatives were not as vocal as he would like on support specifically for keeping gyms open. Mr Curtis is a gym owner.
At the time he said: “There has been no leadership in an area I wanted represented in. Why would I represent a party that wouldn’t represent me?”
You can make your mind up if he was in local politics more for himself than for the good of others.
It turned out he didn’t bother to turn up at any meetings he was required to between July and December. How much work he was doing in his ward for constituents is anyone’s guess.
But during that time, he was still being paid.
Councillors are paid £17,854 a year. For six months, based on his attendance record it is questionable whether Mr Curtis did anything to earn that.
He has said nothing publicly to disabuse anyone of the notion he was getting money for nothing.
A week later, we published a story of Russell Robertson, Independent Group councillor who had just attended the bare minimum required of him, one in six months.
Not content with skipping meetings, when he was required at one, in September, where all councillors were to attend he was off on a here day drinking trip to Edinburgh with his partner.
While put in apologies to notify their non-attendance, Mr Robertson posted updates from his pub crawl.
While his colleagues were discussing matters like the impact of new local lockdown on Glasgow’s economy and on the mental health of the citizens, he was posting “wee drinky poo” with a picture of two pints of lager from a bar 50 miles away.
That’s before we even think about ignoring the government advice at the time on pub crawls spreading the virus.
Mr Robertson was elected as a Labour Councillor in 2016 before he left to join the SNP four years later declaring he supported independence.
He then left the SNP, citing concerns about Susan Aitken’s leadership, after he was removed from a paid convenership post.
He became a member of the Independent Councillors group with others who had also left a party there were elected under.
As one person put it to me when we revealed his capital drinking exploits: “He’s been at more parties than Pippa Dee.” Again, like Mr Curtis, Mr
Robertson is content to pick up the salary. The attendance of some other councillors warrants close scrutiny.
At a time when people are losing their jobs, unable to pay their bills and feed their family, the idea that we have elected representatives who made all sorts of promises to the voters, collecting public money and doing nothing, or next to nothing for it, is a disgrace.
It has to be pointed out there is more, much more to a councillor’s role than attending council meetings.
But when, in the case of the two mentioned, when you are only required to attend a handful every six months and you don’t show up, it doesn’t look likely that you are doing the rest of the work.
There are some councillors who in a year have 100% attendance at meetings. Others who attend more in a month than Mr Robertson and Mr Curtis were asked to in a year.
The behaviour of those we have highlighted suggests they are a drain on the taxpayer.
If they don’t want to do the job, they shouldn’t ask to be elected.
Mr Curtis, quite rightly lost his seat. Mr Robertson, whose preferred seat seems to be a bar stool, continues.
Meanwhile, council employees are working hard to keep the city running during lockdown, collecting the bins, caring for the elderly, keeping essential services going.
Many are doing it for less than the salary of a councillor, which for some, like Mr Curtis, is a second income.
The actions of Mr Curtis and Mr Robertson is a slap in the face to their councillor colleagues, the council staff and the people of the communities they are paid to represent.
Mr Curtis should have resigned his role last July when he left the Tories and Mr Robertson should be having a long hard think about his position.
If there are any others in the City Chambers who don’t fancy doing the work they were elected to do, the answer is simple.
They should do the decent thing and resign.
If they don’t want to do the job, they shouldn’t ask to be elected