J Beattie

Does Sandy Milne talk to the mayor before firing off letters on his behalf, because for Victor Luca’s sake he should stop.

Mr Milne does seem to have an inside track on the mayor’s thoughts, so perhaps he can tell us in his next column?

His latest letter was a telling-off for councillors because they asked questions at a council meeting.

The mayor wants to set up an advisory group to the council, with him alone picking the membership and him alone deciding the terms of reference.

To Mr Milne’s disgust, some councillors dared ask for more details. There were no details it seems, just the concept of a plan.

The mayor could have taken the time to talk with his councillors about his idea beforehand and explain his thinking. He might even have listened to their feedback and taken on any good suggestions.

Instead, he chose to spring a half-baked idea on them at the end of the last council meeting of the year.

Asking a few questions about it is the least I’d expect from our elected representatives.

I am only writing about this because Mr Milne used it to take another swing at good councillors such as Deputy Mayor Lesley Immink, Gavin Dennis and others.

If the mayor has now fallen out with his deputy, as Mr Milne’s letter implies, I wonder if he has any allies left.

There has been a bit of discussion in the Beacon recently about leadership skills.

Mr Milne and WAG have poo-pooed the idea that the mayor should be leading the team, working with his councillors, and building consensus, and that clearly isn’t Dr Luca’s style anyway.

I’ve been told he barely meets with councillors outside of public meetings.

No wonder he can’t get anything done.