Meet the Mayor?

Where’s your ticket?

Over the years the role of Boston’s Mayor has diminished bit by bit.
When it was first established in 1545 after Henry VIII incorporated the borough by Royal Charter, the Mayor was the chief magistrate, the coroner and the keeper of the town jail.
Now, aside from popping up by invitation at local events, and chairing the full council meeting, there is little else – even appearances in ceremonial dress are becoming fewer and further between.
Now it looks as though another nibble is to be taken from the office.
Tomorrow’s Performance Review Committee of the council is to discuss recommendations by the Way Forward Group (don’t you love all these talking shop titles?) recommending cuts in the cash used to support the office.
The current council cabinet structure - including the post of ceremonial Mayor – is costing £61,720 in the current financial year.
The Way Forward Group recommended asking the Chief Executive to reduce the costs of civic and mayoral budgets by 25-30% in 2011/12.
Some of the proposed cuts would be achieved “by the introduction of a charging policy for invited guests to relevant functions and assessment of invitations against agreed criteria” – in other words paying to attend events at which the mayor is taking part and turning down a few invitations.
It’s also proposed to hold yet another of the borough’s much-loved public consultations on civic and mayoral activity and expenditure to gauge public opinion on how better to direct future spend and activity.
This result of that exercise could well give the town’s great and good something of a shock – assuming anyone bothers to take part.
We are sure that many people in Boston haven’t a clue about the office of mayor, and most probably couldn’t care less.
There is little respect for authority figures of any kind these days, and even less for ones that are purely ceremonial.
We recall with a hint of sadness the sight of the Mayor and Mayoress lurking in the doorway of the Assembly Rooms as participants gathered for last year’s Remembrance Day service – a lone, curiously dressed couple that many people who saw them might have assumed had lost their way home after a fancy dress party.
Pomp without the circumstance.
The aim of all the reports is to deliver necessary savings “whilst retaining the importance of the history of Boston and the role of promoting the town.”
Sadly we think that this is a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Alternative options listed are to look for savings elsewhere, to retain the status quo, or to consider other options.
Frankly we think that this is an area where cuts must be made, as there can be no justification in the present economic climate for spending a penny more than is necessary on retaining the mayoral office.
But there is one thing that we are sure about.
The idea of buying a ticket for the chance to meet the Mayor is a complete non-starter.

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