Onchan Commissioners …Chief Executive

[2112]

Classic piece of nonsense yesterday on the NPM where ODC yet again showing their contempt for their ratepayers, all in the name of openness, transparency and ‘democracy’. They want to livestream their meetings, in the hope it will change their image. Who in their right mind will spend an hour or two watching these idiots prattling crap - probably ex Minister Callister. ODC say it will cost iro £4000 to do. At this moment in time both politically and financially it’s not the brightest suggestion made, and shows ODC obsessed with image, spin and control, rather than wanting the best for Onchan, and putting the interests of the ratepayers first. 

[Banker]

7 minutes ago, 2112 said:

Classic piece of nonsense yesterday on the NPM where ODC yet again showing their contempt for their ratepayers, all in the name of openness, transparency and ‘democracy’. They want to livestream their meetings, in the hope it will change their image. Who in their right mind will spend an hour or two watching these idiots prattling crap - probably ex Minister Callister. ODC say it will cost iro £4000 to do. At this moment in time both politically and financially it’s not the brightest suggestion made, and shows ODC obsessed with image, spin and control, rather than wanting the best for Onchan, and putting the interests of the ratepayers first. 

Unless you’re an Onchan resident not sure why you’re so angry? Some residents maybe interested in viewing proceedings 

[cissolt]

After all the shenanigans in onchan, live streaming meetings is a great idea.   The three stooges pettiness and bullying should be kept in check during the meetings.

£4000 pails in insignificance compared to the many payouts to sacked staff.  How many chief execs are they still paying?

[thommo2010]

1 hour ago, 2112 said:

Classic piece of nonsense yesterday on the NPM where ODC yet again showing their contempt for their ratepayers, all in the name of openness, transparency and ‘democracy’. They want to livestream their meetings, in the hope it will change their image. Who in their right mind will spend an hour or two watching these idiots prattling crap - probably ex Minister Callister. ODC say it will cost iro £4000 to do. At this moment in time both politically and financially it’s not the brightest suggestion made, and shows ODC obsessed with image, spin and control, rather than wanting the best for Onchan, and putting the interests of the ratepayers first. 

4 grand? cant they just ask Amadeus to use his Roundel studio and stick it on youtube?

[Jarndyce]

2 hours ago, Banker said:

Unless you’re an Onchan resident not sure why you’re so angry?

It’s Douglas bins all over again!   Everyone and their auntie expressed a view on DBC, whether or not they lived in Douglas - why would this be different?

[hissingsid]

As an Onchan ratepayer I think it is a good idea although most of the interesting stuff will no doubt be dealt with in the private meetings as it rightly should be.   For anyone not paying rates in Onchan but out and concentrate on your own affairs.   Comparing it to the Douglas bin fiasco is a no go different matter altogether.  As long as we have weekly bin collections, free public toilets, decent street lighting, well kept public spaces, great library etc and the rates do not increase dramatically I am happy.

[Jarndyce]

13 minutes ago, hissingsid said:

For anyone not paying rates in Onchan, butt out and concentrate on your own affairs.   Comparing it to the Douglas bin fiasco is a no go different matter altogether.

OK, Sid, whatever you say - completely different!😉

[Gladys]

1 hour ago, hissingsid said:

As an Onchan ratepayer I think it is a good idea although most of the interesting stuff will no doubt be dealt with in the private meetings as it rightly should be.   For anyone not paying rates in Onchan but out and concentrate on your own affairs.   Comparing it to the Douglas bin fiasco is a no go different matter altogether.  As long as we have weekly bin collections, free public toilets, decent street lighting, well kept public spaces, great library etc and the rates do not increase dramatically I am happy.

Well said Dave. 

[Non-Believer]

2 hours ago, hissingsid said:

....and the rates do not increase dramatically I am happy.

Wishful thinking...

[hissingsid]

Who is Dave ?🤣

[0bserver]

How does a webcam and a YouTube channel cost £4k? 

Based on the antics of Handforth Parish Council, Onchan Commissioners should be able to monetise their videos! 

I hear Quirkio fancies himself as Onchan's answer to Jackie Weaver. 

[hissingsid]

If they had kept up with events they could have perhaps done a deal with the roundel king especially as his studio is in Onchan…another opportunity lost 🤣 and Amadeus may have picked up a few tips on bin collections  🤣.   

[Banker]

£8500 on legal fees, was this to do with Quirkio?

https://www.three.fm/news/isle-of-man-news/onchan-commissioners-spent-8500-on-legal-advice-concerning-members-conduct/

[Roger Mexico]

9 hours ago, Banker said:

£8500 on legal fees, was this to do with Quirkio?

https://www.three.fm/news/isle-of-man-news/onchan-commissioners-spent-8500-on-legal-advice-concerning-members-conduct/

Probably, though whether just him is another matter.  3FM have rather mangled things, but at least they have linked to the FoI Response[1] which makes things a bit clearer.  This bit struck me in particular:

Typically the Authority had 3 to 4 Officers present at Board Meetings to advise Members on matters at hand, since the 27th June 2022 only one Officer has been in attendance –

• Is this change related to the conduct of Elected Member(s)?

[...]Yes, during the Ordinary Meeting of the Board held on the 27th June 2022, the then Acting Chief Executive/Clerk advised the Board that only he would be attending any Board Meetings until he feels there is an acceptable improvement in relation to conduct

This strikes me as fairly extraordinary as you would expect officers to be present at such meetings as part of their contract of employment.  If members are misbehaving, its the job of the Chair to keep them in line using standing orders.  Officers refusing to take part in what should be an important part of their job in case someone says something they don't want to hear is fundamentally undemocratic.

There's some more information in a newspaper article which only appeared a bit after we'd discussed the attempt to unseat Quirk from the Finance Chair.  What happened was the OC Chair, Kathryn Williams complained about the coverage that had been given and the paper issued a point-by-point rebuttal[2]:

https://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/politics/commissioners-chairman-says-reporting-was-inaccurate-but-we-accurately-reported-david-quirks-comments-571054

But in the course of it they explained what was actually going on in the way they should have done in the first place.  Clearly Quirk as Finance Chair had fallen out with the Finance Manager and it seems to have been thought that rather than trying to get them to work together or investigate what the problem was, the solution was to get rid of the politician.  Unlike another recent Onchan politician who thought that his job might be a little more than doing what he was told, Quirk got the backing of most of his colleagues.

 

[1]  And it appears on their website on one of these new-fangled computers for all to read, unlike DBC who seem to think that all FoI responses should be written on parchment with a swan's quill and then buried under Castle Rushen for 99 years.  And as you see, you can link to it directly with a link that doesn't disappear when the wind changes or whatever, unlike the government site.

[2]  See what I did there?

[Holte End]

5 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

Clearly Quirk as Finance Chair had fallen out with the Finance Manager

If he is anything like he presents himself on the Mannin Line, he would be easy to fall out with. Yesterday he talk about the Liverpool landiing stage, totally missing the point that it was he part of the Government, when this all started. Also DOI workers numbers reducing, which was part of the 2012 scope of Government plan. The centralization of services which has led to reduction in workers and more management, all when he was in government.  I would rather listen to the flat earth society.