10:43am Friday 12th March 2010
MAYBE it’s just me who’s unpopular or maybe newspaper editors don’t attract too many friends if they are doing their job properly.
I was reminded of this when I noticed a reader comment on the Bucks Free Press website this week suggesting I was being ‘whipped’ by the ruling Tory group on Wycombe District Council.
In other words, I comply meekly with the council and say what they want me to.
I seriously doubt councillors believe that. I’ve heard talk that some Tories believe I’m a sandal-wearing Lib Dem or a die-hard Labour red.
Meanwhile, Labour and Lib Dems reckon I’m further right than Attila the Hun.
When it comes to it, the truth is that, like most local newspaper journalists, the only important people in my book are the readers.
So when they ask questions of authority, we try to answer and we try to stick up for them, with varying degrees of success.
One of my hobby horses, as most of you well know, is parking. Last week, I implored councillors to show caution when looking at recommendations to hike up charges later this year in the Wycombe district.
Some readers on our website claimed council employees were given free parking at taxpayers’ expense at the district’s car parks. To my knowledge this isn’t strictly correct – free parking is restricted for use with work, according to WDC.
However, I know a bit more about the history of this subject than most laymen because I’ve been around so long. And I well recall that this very issue of free parking at one stage – more than a decade ago – made me the possibly the most disliked man at Wycombe town hall.
Many, many years ago, we discovered that councillors were allowed to park for free at any time, irrespective of whether or not they were on council business. They were entitled to free stays in council car parks even if they had only come in to town to shop.
This was especially galling for readers since the revelation came at a time when they were imposing another set of increases.
We campaigned on both the This Star and the Bucks Free Press for this to change, but even I wasn’t prepared for the backlash from councillors.
They were aghast we could question this privilege and one ex-member told me: “It’s the only perk we get.”
She explained that councillors were often stopped by constituents during their private trips into town, so were entitled to claim on this basis.
I retorted that I too am often stopped in the street by readers, but would never dare to tax my MD’s sense of humour with a claim for a shopping trip to Tesco on this basis.
The comedy deepened as another councillor told me: “But our spouses can’t claim for their cars.”
I recall that one of them wrote in to us during this period in the mid-1990s and labelled me the worst editor in the history of the Bucks Free Press. Now there’s a number of reasons why I could lay claim to that title, but campaigning to stop parking privileges was not one of them in my book.
Councillors also earnestly told me that any new system would be impossible to enforce.
“How could you check up if we were on council business or on a private trip?” they asked. They added that sometimes they might nip to the supermarket for a loaf of bread after an official meeting, so how would they sort that one out?
My reply was simple: “We would trust you. We elect you as councillors, so we would have to have faith that you would do what is right for the taxpayer and only park for free when appropriate.”
Relations were tense for a fair old while, but then common-sense prevailed. The council suddenly announced they were scrapping the all-encompassing perk – meaning we had won our campaign.
I have to be fair to them here. They actually listened to the public and acted accordingly.
This week, many years since we put this campaign to bed, we asked the council what the official position is. Spokesman Sue Robinson told us: “Council staff who have parking permits can only use them in a specified car park at specified times. Councillors can park in the council offices. Usage is monitored by the council. “ She added: “Misuse of a permit by a councillor could result in the permit privilege being revoked.”
And she said: “Staff parking permits have strict conditions attached to use, which form part of the employee’s terms and conditions of employment. Car parking permits are restricted for use only in connection with work and do not cover ‘private use’.”
I am not saying it’s a perfect system, and I’m not suggesting it can never be abused, but at least the God-like right to the perk has disappeared, and for that we can be grateful.
A small victory perhaps many years ago, but it was a battle worth fighting for – even if it did land me with the unshakeable title of ‘Stevie no-mates’.
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