Heads they win, tails we lose

It came as little surprise when we heard that plans to consult Boston's electorate on government changes to the way the council will be run after the next election in May 2011 have been put on hold because the council cannot explain them in understandable English.
In a nutshell the council needs to pick one of two new options to replace the present system where it is run by a Leader and Cabinet Executive.
The choice is between a new Leader and Cabinet Executive model or an elected Mayor.
Under the first plan the Leader would be an elected councillor as at present who would take control for four years, appointing the Cabinet and delegating responsibilities - but with one crucial change to the ways things are run at present.
The Leader would have total control over all executive functions and therefore have complete discretion to allocate decision-making powers to the Cabinet as a body or to delegate decision-making to individual Cabinet members or to officers.
We seem to recall that the present leader sought similar powers before, and that the idea was rejected, but no such rejection will be possible in the future.
In terms of cost, there would be no change to the current Cabinet structure (plus ceremonial Mayor) which costs £61,720 in the current financial year.
Under the alternative scheme a Mayor would be directly elected, and unlike the Leader would not be a councillor representing a ward. The ceremonial Mayor would remain as a separate post. The elected Mayor would appoint a deputy and a Cabinet which would then operate much the same as things do now.
Electing a Mayor would be much more expensive, costing between £87,210 to £253,050 - although if members’ allowances continue to be paid at 40% below the levels recommended and if this continued, costs the cost would range from £58,810 to £154,250. It would cost £21,000 to run the ballot, and there would also be costs of running the Mayor's office.
There's also the matter of the cost of a referendum, which are put at £50,000. But to council willing to blow £28,000 on a sound system to save a couple of deaf members the price of a hearing aid, we're sure that's just peanuts.
Although there are no choices here, we have to say that, sadly, the argument "it's not broken, so don't mend it" does not apply to the present council structure.
The BBI has produced a rotten executive, and the question is whether whatever replaces it will be any better.
The problem with option A is that we get the mixture as before with the exception that the new leader has absolute authority, which - depending on the leader - could be a very dangerous thing.
We've seen what happens in the present council when conflicts of personality collide with spite.
The problem with option B is that we cannot for the life of us think of anyone who is big enough to be deemed electable as a potential Mr or Mrs Boston.
The only redeeming feature in the whole business, is that as these changes will take place at the next elections, it is a racing certainty that whoever forms the next leadership will not be the Boston Bypass Independents Party.

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