Time for Real Mayors

national | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis

Monday June 19, 2006 15:41

by Cllr Keith Martin

Westport Councillor calls for real mayors with real powers to govern our towns, boroughs, cities and counties

It is time to replace unelected Managers with Directly Elected Mayors.

We are now fast approaching the annual elections of the head of the town, borough, city and county councils. Currently we have a system in Westport and throughout the country which is based on “muggings turn” by which the parties in power agree a Rota and divide the office up each year among themselves.

This means you will have 5 different head of the council in 5 years. Each individual has different priorities, aims and goals than the last and this can make up for very disjointed local government. Also the quality of leadership can differ greatly from councillor to councillor.

Currently, irrespective of their titles, such as the Cathaoirleach, the Mayor, the Meara or the Chairman, they each have identical roles. They are the ceremonial head of the council, they chair the meetings and that is about it.
In my opinion it is time for us to have directly elected Mayors with real power not just ceremonial duties and photo opportunities. A directly elected Mayor should set out the objectives of the council for their term and make the executive decisions on the day to day, running of the council thus replacing the Town/Borough/City/County Manager system with a more democratic and accountable one. This would leave these managers to get on with carrying out the decisions of the Mayor and the councillors.

There are a great many advantages to having a directly elected Mayor with real powers.
Such Mayors would
provide a very visible leadership for the community in that almost everyone will know who the Mayor is
make it easy to see where power and responsibility lie in the council
make those making decisions accountable to the people through the ballot box
provide Westport with powerful leadership with a 5 year plan for their term of office
give Westport a strong voice with which to address issues like the N5 with regional and national government
It would allow talented individuals from different walks of life and without any political affiliation to bring their skills to the benefit of the community

There would be no danger of the Mayor having too much power as he would have to seek approval for policies and actions from the whole council to be effective. They would require the councillors to approve budgets, zonings and the same functions of the council as at present.

There is a perception out there that only large cities like New York or London can benefit from having a powerful directly elected Mayor but surely towns like Westport are every bit as entitled to democratic local government. Directly elected Mayors are not about taking power away from councillors they are about putting the power back in the hands of the people, about giving the town leadership and making local government relevant and democratic in the 21st century.