David Sutton - Goldenhill & Sandyford (Bankeyfileds/Tunstall North) Candidate - Questions/Answers from the MyTunstall Community
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What are the biggest problems facing this area?The biggest problems facing the north of our...
David Sutton has provided a set of answers to Richard Hawthorns questions.
- What are the biggest problems facing this area?
The biggest problems facing the north of our city are youth unemployment, anti-social behaviour and crime due to drugs. - What issues would you tackle first?
They all need to be tackled head on and as soon as possible. - Without very much budget how will you implement your ideas?
We will all have to look at alternative funding like Crime Inititive and any other funding we can find - How would you generate income for the local area?
I would like to generate funding from where ever possible,I would look at local or national funding streams. - What are your thoughts on Anti Social Behaviour?
We needed to get local people involved as well as the police and councillors to get rid of this national scurdge - Will you be working full time or part time as a ward councillor?
I will be working as a full time councillor.
Jon, I hope these answers pass your muster as well?
Questions by Jon Morgan, Bankeyfields
- Who should be running of the council the Council Officers or the Councilors.
the city should be run by councillors but in fact the officers have to much power through delegated powers it has been a long hard struggle to reduce their powers but all councillors have to make it happen some do not want it to happen, I for one have always wanted to get rid of delegated powers. - How do you envisage keeping local facilities such as Tunstall Pool Open.
I have last year worked on the petition to keep tunstall pool open it should have never closed, but only 13 of us voted against the budget the rest were party whipped to vote for the budget.
I will work hard to get the pool re-instated by what means I can muster with the help of other councillors. - How would you deal with Anti-Social Behavior.
I have in the past worked hard with local police to try to get ride of anti-social behaviour and in some cases it worked and in other cases it did not, I will work hard with the Tunstall police to get rid of anti-social behaviour in the Goldenhill and Sandyford Ward as you would expect me to. - How are the council / you going to get Business to move to the area.
I have in the past supported Dransfield Developments and still support them to this present day in carrying on their developments to the north of our city which has always been neglected by public money and it was great that Dransfield decided to put in private money. - How will you get money spent in our area in preference to other areas.
I have always asked for years for public money to be spent in Tunstall and the surounding areas but it fell on deaf ears with renew and the rest of the council.
Questions by Richard Hawthorn, Bankeyfields
- Will you fight the officers of the council and return the power back to its rightful place (in the hands of the councillor)?
- Will you take steps to have the 106 money (with acrued interest) returned to its rightfull owners. The area that it was designated for?
- Who will be your priority your party, your voters, or the council?
- Will you serve the voters irrespective of political beliefs?
- What past experience do you have that makes you think you are prepared for the responsibly of being a Councillor?
- What are your major strengths?
- What are your major weaknesses?
- What is more important, to fix a street light or to install a park bench, and why?
- What experience do you have in securing funding?
- What are your thoughts on keeping a weekly/bi weekly blog on MyTunstall if elected of
- work you are carrying out?
- ongoing ward budget?
- key local news?
- What green initiatives do you think can benefit all in the ward?
- Which members of the community are your priority?
- What power have you got ?
I have the power of speech and debate with any one that any one can come up with good ideas we will hopefully be able to work together. - Where did it come from ?
I have had many helpers in my past and with the experience of being a councillor over the years. - In whose interest do you use it ?
I will always work for the constituants that I represent. - To whom are you accountable ?
I am accountable to my constituants. - How do we get rid of you ?
By voting me out.
- How will you communicate what you plan to do / have done with us?
- How will you engage the electorate?
- Where do you see the line being drawn between the community solving their problems and the local government doing it?
- What are your views on a Big Society?
- In your view, what are the major challenges facing this ward and what do you think a councillor's role is to address them?
- General question that would probe local knowledge and their interpretation of what they can do/achieve
- What are your connection to this ward, why have you chosen to represent this ward?
In 2002 I was invited to an interveiw by the Labour Group at Goldenhill Community Hall by The Late Tony Pattie who was standing down as the Councillor for The Tunstall North Ward and a cabinet member.
As you have noticed that I do not live in Tunstall but I served in Tunstall for 4 Years as their Councillor.
Question by Ian Norris, Tunstall- Can you explain -in detail- your strategy to bring big business into the area, particularly in sectors such as finance which is a well paid sector and is entirely under represented in Stoke on Trent? (Remember the business rates on office premises is much lower here than in other areas.)
- If you do manage to attract businesses into the area, what will you do to ensure that a high proportion of managerial and supervisory jobs go to local people rather than allowing companies to import their top paid employees from outside the area? (As is the case now)
- What will you do to bring local salary levels up to the National average, or at least the average in the West Midlands?
Comments
I can see lots of questions
I can see lots of questions but not many answers.
The answers provided are to leading questions, poor answers in my view; He's talking about what he's done in the past, not intentions for the forthcoming election period. Q5 not a good answer!
I feel (and am probably
I feel (and am probably against the majority) that the delegated officers have the training and abilities that are lacking in many councillors. This (seen from the outside) fight for power between the two factions is not good for the City. You need to work with the officers not fight them!
As a councillor you should be taking the needs and issues to the departments, they should be advising of best procedures and carrying those out, with some advice from councillors. I cannot see how many of the Council have the ability to raise funding on the sort of scale required or the knowledge of commercial developments that would improve employment prospects.
You put yourself as Non-aligned, as I wrote before I can't see how that is done, everyone has an opinion, being Non-Aligned means that you offer nothing to no-one. I really can only trust someone who puts their name to a party with a policy.
Poor answers, short and
Poor answers,
short and lacking content.
Tim, the officers are a law unto themselves, believing that "theres no rush as they might be gone in 4 years".
This I have heard several councillors state.
The officers should guide and serve the councillors, not the other way round.
This is the reason I asked the question.
Just updated Dave's answers
Just updated Dave's answers with Ina's response.
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