BYE ELECTION CALLED BY ONCHAN COMMISSIONERS

[Moghrey Mie]

https://onchan.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/23rd-september-2024.pdf

Minutes of latest meeting

[Kopek]

Perhaps the Clerk to the comms could have asked the resignee to hold on for a month or so to avoid this by election? The person could have been excused from attending meeting if there was some personal reason or animosity?

[Roger Mexico]

3 hours ago, Kopek said:

Perhaps the Clerk to the comms could have asked the resignee to hold on for a month or so to avoid this by election? The person could have been excused from attending meeting if there was some personal reason or animosity?

Well she said on her Facebook that it was because her "professional life has expanded significantly" and she no longer had the free time to devote to it.  But if a lot of the time was taken up with the usual tedious Onchan in-fighting, you can see why she might want to spend it usefully elsewhere.  She hadn't been able to attend any meetings since the AGM on 7 May, but I think it's six months before you lose you seat for non-attendance.

So she could have been asked to hang on till early November which would have brought it within the six month rule and stopped the need for a by-election.  But the fact that the Commissioners thought they had the choice suggests no one seems to have know the legal situation (if I've got it right).

[WTF]

15 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

Well she said on her Facebook that it was because her "professional life has expanded significantly" and she no longer had the free time to devote to it.  But if a lot of the time was taken up with the usual tedious Onchan in-fighting, you can see why she might want to spend it usefully elsewhere.  She hadn't been able to attend any meetings since the AGM on 7 May, but I think it's six months before you lose you seat for non-attendance.

So she could have been asked to hang on till early November which would have brought it within the six month rule and stopped the need for a by-election.  But the fact that the Commissioners thought they had the choice suggests no one seems to have know the legal situation (if I've got it right).

somebody will have wanted her gone ASAP and not given a toss about the cost to the electorate.

[Passing Time]

7 hours ago, WTF said:

somebody will have wanted her gone ASAP and not given a toss about the cost to the electorate.

There are a couple of Onchan commissioners who make the place toxic

[Kopek]

Oh! Who is that???

[Amadeus]

Time to annex? You know, LGR. 

[AndrewMarkColeman]

16 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

Well she said on her Facebook that it was because her "professional life has expanded significantly" and she no longer had the free time to devote to it.  But if a lot of the time was taken up with the usual tedious Onchan in-fighting, you can see why she might want to spend it usefully elsewhere.  She hadn't been able to attend any meetings since the AGM on 7 May, but I think it's six months before you lose you seat for non-attendance.

So she could have been asked to hang on till early November which would have brought it within the six month rule and stopped the need for a by-election.  But the fact that the Commissioners thought they had the choice suggests no one seems to have know the legal situation (if I've got it right).

It is three months of non attendance and the time had lapsed,so the resignation was irrelevant.  I think, if this young lady knew in advance that she couldn't attend meetings, she should have resigned then. It was unfair on the other  Commissioners who are there, as it seems  they are spending ratepayers money on a by-election needlessly, as they wouldn't have had a choice.

[Katman]

Maybe the 'Moaning Mouth of Onchan' James Corrin, will stand.

[Roger Mexico]

1 hour ago, AndrewMarkColeman said:

It is three months of non attendance and the time had lapsed,so the resignation was irrelevant.  I think, if this young lady knew in advance that she couldn't attend meetings, she should have resigned then. It was unfair on the other  Commissioners who are there, as it seems  they are spending ratepayers money on a by-election needlessly, as they wouldn't have had a choice.

You're right it's three months (I'd assumed it was similar to the UK) but the Act says:

28 Vacation of office by failure to attend meetings 

(1) A member of a local authority who fails, throughout a period of three consecutive months from the date of his or her last attendance, to attend any meeting of the local authority ceases to be a member of the local authority; unless the failure was due to some reason approved by the local authority before the expiry of that period

Though it's possible in the interim either her absence had been approved as above or she had attended an outside body as an Onchan representative (see subsequent clauses).  

Logan had been a Commissioner for nearly three years, but, even assuming she's being not polite about the reason for going rather than saying she couldn't stand the relentless in-fighting any more, she may not have known in advance what the changed circumstances were that would stop her attending.  In any case the only way to have avoided a by-election would have been for her to come to at least one meeting and then resigned at the end of October.  No one in the Commissioners seems to have checked the law, even afterwards, as is suggested by the way they had this meaningless vote.

[Jarndyce]

2 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

No one in the Commissioners seems to have checked the law, even afterwards, as is suggested by the way they had this meaningless vote.

Colour me shocked…

[cissolt]

On 9/26/2024 at 10:20 AM, Moghrey Mie said:

https://onchan.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/23rd-september-2024.pdf

Minutes of latest meeting

Good to see Anthony Allen asking the important questions, we don't want Onchan rate payers to be burdened if a mayoral chain goes missing in our village!

 

[Moghrey Mie]

They should stop all that nonsense of holding Civic Services around the parishes of the island and inviting other commissioners to attend. Commissioners are elected to a secular office and can carry out their functions without having these religious services every year.

I know, 'We've always done it' but that doesn't mean we have to carry on now that everybody has e-mail and better means of communication.

 

Edited 15 hours ago by Moghrey Mie

[Roger Mexico]

8 minutes ago, Moghrey Mie said:

They should stop all that nonsense of holding Civic Services around the parishes of the island and inviting other commissioners to attend. Commissioners are elected to a secular office and can carry out their functions without having these religious services every year.

I know, 'We've always done it' but that doesn't mean we have to carry on now that everybody has e-mail and better means of communication.

 

I don't think it's related to Civic Services, I think it' about the entirely non-religious act of opening a restaurant as discussed here:

 

[AndrewMarkColeman]

4 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

In any case the only way to have avoided a by-election would have been for her to come to at least one meeting and then resigned at the end of October.  No one in the Commissioners seems to have checked the law, even afterwards, as is suggested by the way they had this meaningless vote.

The Clerk has explained the protocol and on more than one occasion.