To elect a Mayor for the 2015/2016 municipal year.
The outgoing Mayor will address the Council for up to 5 minutes to include any presentations that the Mayor may wish to make.
The outgoing Mayor will then call for nominations for the Office of Mayor for 2015/2016.
The outgoing Mayor will ask the Council to vote on the nomination(s).
At this point in the proceedings the outgoing Mayor and the incoming Mayor will adjourn to the Mayor’s Parlour to place the Cloak and Chain of Office on the incoming Mayor.
The incoming Mayor to take the chair and make the Declaration of Acceptance of Office as required by Section 83(3) of the Local Government Act 1972.
The Mayor to address the Council for up to 5 minutes.
The Mayor to present the Past Mayor’s Badge to the outgoing Mayor.
Minutes:
UllaKarin Clark, the current Mayor made a speech to the Council during which she welcomed Laura Blumenthal and John Jarvis as newly elected Members.
The Mayor explained that it had been a great honour for her and her family to have served as the Mayor for the previous two years and that throughout her second year she had been very ably supported by Parry Batth as Deputy Mayor. She expressed her gratitude for the advice and support she had received during this time from Andy Couldrick the Chief Executive,
Anne-Marie Bonwick, Civic Communications Officer, Anne Hunter, Democratic Services Manager and the Democratic Services Team. The Mayor also paid tribute to her husband Joseph Clark for his support.
The Mayor explained she had thoroughly enjoyed her representational duties having undertaken some 390 engagements and was particularly pleased to have been able to contribute to the networking project between local charities and businesses through her speed dating event which had offered charities better ways of improving their cost effectiveness and general expertise through partnerships with local business. This was within the context of the Council’s restricted ability to support charities because of national fiscal limits.
In conclusion, the Mayor paid tribute to the residents of the Borough and the many local businesses that had supported her Mayoral charities during her term of office. In 2013/2014 this had been Building for the Future, an organisation that supported disabled children had been her charity. In 2014/2015 in association with More Arts, teenagers with creative talents had been supported, including through scholarships. The Mayor commented that she was delighted to report that £11,868 had been raised for her charity during the previous municipal year.
The Mayor called for nominations for the office of Mayor for the 2015/16 Municipal Year.
It was proposed by UllaKarin Clark and seconded by Keith Baker that Parry Batth be elected as Mayor for the 2015/16 Municipal Year.
It was unanimously agreed that Parry Batth should be elected as Mayor for the 2015/16 Municipal Year.
RESOLVED: That Parry Baath be elected as Mayor for the 2015/16 Municipal Year.
Parry Batth made the statutory acceptance of office pursuant to Section 83 of the Local Government Act 1972.
Parry Batth thanked the Council for electing him as Mayor which he regarded as a great honour. He paid tribute to UllaKarin Clark for her support and guidance during his term of office as Deputy Mayor. He had undertaken some 37 mayoral engagements and chaired two full Council meetings. This had been a learning experience, particularly chairing of Council for the first time, but thanked the Council and Officers for their support as well as his wife and consort Surinder.
The Mayor paid tribute to the support he had received as Deputy Mayor from friends and family within the Sikh community. He commented that he had been born in the Punjab, known as the being the bread basket of India and had grown up within a humble farming family. The Mayor stated that he felt particularly honoured, humbled and privileged to be the Mayor of the Wokingham Borough that also had deep routed farming links. He commented he would endeavour to serve with pride and humbleness to act as an ambassador for the Council and prompt the Council’s value of the Borough being a great place to live and do business.
The Mayor commented that his chosen Mayoral charity for the municipal year would be ARC in light of the importance of the emotional health and wellbeing of the Borough’s children, which had been identified as a priority by the Children’s Strategic Partnership and the Health and Wellbeing Board. ARC provided counselling and support to young people and parents across the Borough.