Dear Sir,
Firstly, may I thank you for publishing my article ‘Is it time for a change’ in the Friday 24th edition of our ‘community publication’, the Newton News. I believe that as a resident, born and bred, and as a tax payer, I reserve that right to air my views, if I so wish, and more so with regards to the political spectrum of our town? Equally, I do not have to make myself known and reserve the right to remain anonymous, which is my preference, with or without motive. That being said, I would like to thank Cllr Arun M Chandran for his reply the following week, however, I found his opening comments disgraceful and, quite frankly, petty, is that really the way to reply to a longstanding resident and, more importantly, a voter? His reference to a fairy tale, “Granny, do all fairy tales begin with once upon a time?” and pointing out two By-elections and what, in his opinion, ‘anonymous’ means, quote, “untruthful or deceitful”, which couldn’t be any further from the truth…Oxford English dictionary? The fact that he launched an attack assuming that, perhaps, I am may be running for councillor, which, I assure you, I am not! As they say, one should not assume because it makes…well, we all know what it makes? Yes, I have a political orientation, but that is my business, as far as Cllr Chandran is concerned, I am a voter and should be respected as such, and respect is something we’ve been greatly lacking in politics over the past few years, this attitude just won’t do. I appreciate his defensive reasoning with regards to the Oakleaf Sports Complex, and highlighting previous year’s figures, and pointing some of the benefits and the great management, but the fact remains, in basic accounting, if your outgoings are greater than your income, then you’re running at a loss, and the outgoings for the Oakleaf Spots Complex are way greater than the income, almost rounding up to £1,000,000! Yes, efforts are being made to maximize income to reduce the heavy burden on the tax payer, but a loss is a loss, and my point was, that perhaps it’s time for a change, from a negative to a positive, even if it means restructure or repurpose? His closing response, “There are some things in life which will never make a profit, but you have to do them if you wish to remain civilised.”
Which directly leads to my original closing statement, “put up with it and pay for attitude.” Is this really the right way of thinking? Is this really managing tax payer’s hard earned money with further tax increases to cover shortfalls such as this? It is not a question of being civilised, and yes, some things in life don’t make a profit, but someone suffers because of it, and in this case, the taxpayer! And on Cllr Chandran’s watch by all accounts? He mentioned in his article, “Hiding their true identity least it becomes obvious what their true motive is”, as already motioned, I have a right to not disclose who I am, but I took the opportunity to disclose the facts and figures that our town council made publicly available. Perhaps the electorate are going to see “true identity and true motive” from those we elect off the back of this? Perhaps it really is time for a change? Perhaps we should vote more carefully in the future? I know I will, just off the back of your reply.
With respect, name and address supplied.