Richard Baum

Another deeply malicious article in the Advertiser this week on the elected Mayor.

Voters in Bury will be asked on July 3rd if they want to have an Elected Mayor running the Council. The referendum has been called because 10,000 or so signatures were collected, allegedly in favour of a Mayor, but in reality in opposition to congestion charging. Those behind the petition have linked the two issues without a single fact to back them up, and are continuing their catalogue of lies in the run-up to a vote which could forever damage the relationship between Bury and its local leaders.

The article “Vote to veto the toll tax” in today’s paper is hugely misleading, and potential voters should be very wary of the claims made within it from both the author and pro-Mayor campaigner Geoffrey Berg.

Mr Berg is right that this congestion charging is a massive issue. But the Mayoral referendum will make absolutely no difference to it at all, and voters should be made aware of what will and won’t change if they vote for a Mayor.

The article says “if Bury votes for an elected mayor who is opposed to the congestion charge in the July 3 referendum, the borough could become exempt from the charge.” But this is simply not true. The two issues are absolutely un-connected. It is as simple as that.

At present Bury Council has made it very clear that it opposes congestion charging. When the issue comes to a final vote at the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA), the Leader of the Council will vote against the charge. Replacing him with a Mayor can do no more than bring exactly the same result. The only difference will be that it will be the Mayor voting against the charge, not the Leader. The vote will carry exactly the same weight.

And remember of course that there is no guarantee that an elected Mayor would vote “no” at all. An elected Mayor won’t be bound by the will of the Council, and if we elect a maverick then he can vote how he wants and we’re stuck with him for four years. Putting that much power in the hands of one person is dangerous. Add to that the cost of a Mayor (£100,000 for the referendum, same again for the election, another £100,000 annual salary and maybe another £75,000 salary for his deputy), and over four years we’re looking at nearly £1m taken out of front line services like caring for the vulnerable and cleaning the streets.

I have personally led the fight against congestion charging in Council. In council, I proposed the amendment opposing the charge, and this opposition was adopted as Council policy. I remain stridently opposed to the planned charge. But I will be voting “No” to a Mayor in the referendum because I see absolutely no connection between the two issues. I urge my fellow voters not to fall for Mr Berg’s lies. A Mayor would be bad news for Bury. So would congestion charging. So we should reject a Mayor once and for all, and pull together to oppose this charge.

Rick