Alexander (Sandy) Milne

I comment on the opinion pieces on page 10 of the Beacon on November 15.

Two thirds of the page was contributed by our Mayor, Victor Luca.  In one letter, Dr Luca urged readers to attend a Grey Power meeting at the Knox Presbyterian Church on Domain Road at 10 am today at which Ivan Rudd, a St John Ambulance officer, will advise us all on how we can save the lives of others (mostly oldies), who suffer a cardiac arrest.

In his Mayoral Talk on the same page, Dr Luca reminded us all of the meaning of Armistice Day (Remembrance Day), and the millions of soldiers and civilians who were killed in World War II.

His column brought back memories of the blitz on Aberdeen, which I lived through.  Seven of my primary schoolmates who were my neighbours were killed in one day.

Houses were flattened and almost all the others were damaged.  Who would have dreamed that in 2024 tens of thousands of women and children in Gaza and Palestine would be slaughtered while the world watched but did little to intervene.

While our Mayor was continuing his practice of keeping us informed about important issues, two blokes were criticising him on the same page for being derelict.  
Ged O'Flaherty was having a go at Dr Luca for failing to meet him face-to-face to discuss his perceived grievances.  I immediately bailed up our mayor who politely directed me to past Beacon correspondence which suggest that Mr O’Flaherty’s claim was unreasonable.

The mayor’s other critic was Dave Stewart, whom I assume is a political leftie, as I was in the past.  I agree with Mr Stewart that we should be cautious about giving all mayors more power.  After all, some recent past mayors did not serve us well.   But our current mayor is competent but shackled by councillors who do not appear to share his concern about ratepayers on fixed incomes while our councillors and back room staff deliver us rates rises which are amongst the highest in the land.

This brings to mind my recent visit to the council's website, which I visited in order to view the November 14 proceedings of the infrastructure and planning committee.  I did a double take when I heard the committee chair, John Pullar, mention three times, the need to consider affordability when making costly plans.

I second that, but hasn't Dr Luca been saying that for five years to deaf councillors?  Let's hope that Mr Pullar's condition is infectious, and the councillors and managers get a hefty dose.