To elect a Mayor for the 2021/22 Municipal Year.
The outgoing Mayor will address the Council for up to 5 minutes.
The outgoing Mayor will then call for nominations for the Office of Mayor for the 2021/22 Municipal Year.
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 may adjourn in order to place the Cloak and Chain of Office on the incoming Mayor.
The incoming Mayor will 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:
Malcolm Richards, the current Mayor, welcomed recently elected Members and thanked those Members who had left the Council. Councillor Richards thanked his daughter, who had acted as Mayoress, and the Members and Officers who had supported him throughout his year in office.
Although the number of Mayoral events had been limited due to the pandemic, Councillor Richards had enjoyed the opportunity to meet residents, community volunteers and new business leaders. The year had been extremely challenging as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the move to virtual meetings of the Council. However, these challenges had been met successfully.
The Mayor called for nominations for the office of Mayor for the 2021/22 Municipal Year.
It was proposed by John Halsall and seconded by John Kaiser that Keith Baker be elected as Mayor for the 2021/22 Municipal Year.
It was proposed by Lindsay Ferris and seconded by Clive Jones that Caroline Smith be elected as Mayor for the 2021/22 Municipal Year.
Upon being put to the vote, it was:
RESOLVED: That Keith Baker be elected as Mayor for the 2021/22 Municipal Year.
Keith Baker made the statutory acceptance of office pursuant to Section 83 of the Local Government Act 1972.
Councillor Baker addressed the Council as follows:
“First of all, may I thank the Council for electing me to this prestigious position. Being the “first citizen” of the Borough is an amazing honour which very few councillors actually achieve and I am extremely humbled to become one of this small group.
In many respects I am quite old fashioned in that I believe being Mayor is something you earn through your contribution to public life and not simply because it is your turn. In my 15 years since I was elected by the fantastic residents of North Woodley, I have been privileged to occupy some of the most senior roles in the Council including being the Leader, Executive Member for Highways and Planning and Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee.
Outside the Borough Council I have also managed to squeeze in being Leader of the Town Council, Governor at Addington School and Stage Manager for Starmaker Youth Theatre Company for over a decade. In fact, my chosen charity combines two of these activities, namely special needs children and the performing arts. “Chance to Dance” is a local community interest company which is a dance school for students and families in the disabled community.
At this point I would like to publicly thank my wife Marilyn, who will become my Mayoress, who has put up with my intense activities for such a long time. She has been absolutely fantastic and I cannot thank her too much for being there and supporting me throughout.
For the last year I have been Deputy Mayor to an amazing person, Malcolm Richards. His year in office has been absolutely unique because of the impact of the pandemic and he has coped with it magnificently. He has been a pioneer on holding virtual meetings and dealt with the technical failings that were “thrown at him” and I wish him well in his retirement.
Normally the incoming Mayor would pass on a scrapbook of his year in office together with his past Chairman’s Badge at this meeting but the pandemic has provided a final twist to his year. Due to social distancing rules these two items will be given to Malcolm outside the meeting.
I would also like to thank Malcolm’s daughter Christine for acting as his Mayoress during this period.
Finally, as I take on the role of chairing this and subsequent meetings of the Full Council can I make a few comments. I said before that I am quite old fashioned and this extends to the neutrality of the Mayor. I think this is a very important point and goes to the very core of the role. I would like to enter into an informal “contract” between all councillors and myself. I will pledge to be even handed to all parties and councillors and in return I expect all councillors, regardless of any affiliation, to behave in an appropriate manner. This includes things like keeping to the accepted time limits for speeches, questions and answers. It also includes cutting out the “side” comments by councillors who are not speaking. It includes making supplementary questions real questions based on the answer given and not a speech. It includes making sure all councillors understand how a “point of personal explanation” and “point of order” is defined in our Constitution.
Over the next three months I wish to have individual meetings with the leaders of all parties to understand their views on council meetings.
So thank you all once again and let us move onto the next item on the agenda.