Camera Obscura
Tonight it’s full Council, which takes place every couple of months and brings together all 51 Councillors from across the Borough. Tonight’s agenda has no motions to debate, although we are going to hear about plans for the new Council constitution in the event that the elected mayoral referendum results in a “yes” vote in July.
Prior to the meeting is the photograph of all the Councillors, which I have developed an irritating spot in time for, right in the middle of my forehead, shining like some kind of toxic beacon. It will now live forever on the walls of the Town Hall, alongside the similar photographs of Councils taken since Bury MBC was set up in 1974. A couple of the Councillors then are still Councillors now, which is a sobering thought given that I feel like I’ve been one for ever, and 1974 was seven years before I was born.
On the timetable for this evening, they have allocated half an hour for the photograph. Either they are using an early-Victorian camera, or they have reasoned (quite correctly) that trying to get 51 ego-maniacal self-proclaimed local big-wigs correctly assembled is about as easy as teaching a tiger to pilot an aeroplane. I of course have no illusions of grandeur, and will quite happily stand at the back, in the corner and, given the state of my complexion, preferably facing the wrong way.
The other week we had the annual photograph of the Passenger Transport Authority (GMPTA) which was an altogether more efficient affair. The Chair almost ran to the steps of the Town Hall in Manchester, and the whole thing was over before I had the chance to straighten my tie.
Feel free to pop along for the meeting. It’s open to the public. Although the public gallery is directly above my seat so you won’t be able to see either me or the spot. You will doubtless see many Members in their best suits and make-up though, which I imagine will be quite a treat.
Rick
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