Topic: | Hounslow Council 50th Anniversary Dinner. What did you do John Connelly? | |
Posted by: | John Todd | |
Date/Time: | 24/01/15 07:51:00 |
s delightful to read the comments of former labour Councillors John Connelly Smith and others. Such grace and balance. Attendance at a dinner may be an issue but what they decline to mention is what did they contribute to Hounslow during their illustrious career? I'm sure the Mayor would want to mention their contribution post the crepe suzettes. Some recall a nostalgia for the free bar and food when meetings were held which had to be stretched out for two and a half hours to get an allowance of some kind. The destruction of Gunnersbury and Chiswick Park by neglect perhaps? Parks where hay was cultivated rather than maintained? High council tax squandered on installing a small vineyard? Red wine only of course! A budget drafted on a fag packet. As one former colleague told me. No real structure just an argument about how much we should raise the council tax by. What's even more surprising is that so many of the old clan Cllrs are now back or have remained. Some rejected creeping back via another Ward where their lack lustre performance wasn't known. John as a former and first plain clothes Mayor (he declined to wear the regalia and robe) is recorded on the displayed role of former Mayors with others including an ICG Mayor who will never be forgotten. Why such legends become bitter with their former colleagues isn't readily understood. I'm sure the toast to absent friends will incorporate John and former Councillors. Perhaps a quick email to the current Mayor would be apposite? Respect John |