I offer my respect to Councillor Jimmy Back for breaking Dundee SNP Group ranks and writing a letter of complaint about the way I target city councillors.
I admire you, Jimmy, for – at last – firing back after the “35 insults” (I’d say “stark truths”) I’ve thrown at councillors.
Please pass on the message to those you sit with in the city chambers that speaking up, giving answers to reasonable questions, having the basic decency to communicate with constituents, is the prime function of their job.
That is, after all, what the Standards Commission For Scotland tells councillors they must do.
However your letter, Jimmy, revealed a truth about the way councillors see themselves and their role.
It shouldn’t be up to me to chase you “to know what this local councillor thinks” – you should be volunteering your opinions to your constituents.
You serve the city, Jimmy. Not the other way round.
And you don’t owe me explanations. You owe them to the people who elected you.
‘I have a simple question for you’
I concede you have sometimes offered comments on your personal Facebook page about planning matters before the council.
That’s not enough, Jimmy. We need more than chat about things that you think make you look good.
So if you really want to discuss your opinions, let’s put that to the test.
But we’ll do it out in the open, not in a phone call.
I have a simple question for you.
The city council’s chief executive, Gregory Colgan, has been in the news.
He spouted that cringingly embarrassing nonsense about “refurbishments not repairs” at the Olympia Centre in reply to a freedom of information request.
He refused to answer at all on how he had discharged his duties as the council’s representative on Dundee University court.
He was named in a highly significant opinion piece by the editor of The Courier on the secretive and corrosive silence at the heart of Dundee’s public life.
He’s just had a £10k pay rise.
So here’s my question, Jimmy – do you have the minerals to say what you think of Colgan’s performance in his uni post?
And do you think Colgan should resign as council chief executive for his ludicrous “refurbishments” prevarication?
You represent your constituents in local government. You must have an opinion on this if you’re doing that job properly.
Does Jimmy have the bottle to comment?
I’ve got the bottle to say what I think – I reckon Colgan should resign both roles, and he’s not worth his pay hike.
What about you Jimmy? Have you got the bottle to comment on all that?
Have your council colleagues got the bottle?
If you’re brave enough to have a tilt at me, you must also be brave enough to say what you think about Colgan.
Would you side with him? Then let’s hear your case for the defence.
What about it, Jimmy?
Are you a man of integrity? A man we can trust? A Dundee man we can rely upon to give a spin-free, straight-talking, point of view?
Or are you a weedy, beige no-mark?
I’ll judge you on the clarity and honesty of your forthcoming letter giving your opinion on Gregory Colgan.
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