Saturday 17 April 2010

Obstructive Councillors finally named and shamed

      
The Daily Post yesterday finally confirms what has remained unspoken until now - that the two councillors expelled from the Original Independents grouping in Early March are part of the "small minority" of "obstructive" councillors that we have been hearing so much about. The two councillors effectively named and shamed are:

  • Elwyn Schofield (representing Llanerch-y-medd)
  • Barrie Durkin (representing Llanbedrgoch)

Furthermore it appears that an agreement has been put in place between the various groups that these two councillors should remain isolated and not be admitted to join any other groupings. The Recovery Board has also warned them that should they attempt to form a new group it will be a "highly retrograde step".

From what I hear, in addition to a few smaller fish, there is still one other "obstructive" senior councillor - representing a ward on the North of the Island - who is yet to be named and shamed. Accordngly the Druid hopes that we will see at least one more expulsion from the Original Independents over the coming months.
  

48 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pray tell, what does "obstructive" mean? The Poles obstructed Hitler, but that was a good thing. Can you post any links, please?

Paul Williams said...

Anon - where to start? Try reading the timeline here: http://druidsrevenge.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-lettergate-tells-us-about-anglesey.html

Anonymous said...

Dear Druid,
But Mr Barrie Durkin was the main information source for the HTV / ITV Wales 'Wales this Week' campaign....week after week after week! I always thought they got it wrong....but it got BD into his seat. Perhaps ITV should run a new series, ha ha! The amazing French Irishman fled to La France but the sister of the French Irishman still lives just near the 'evacuated' Benllech homestead of BD .

Also, please help me....
when you use the word "local" what do you actually mean???


Yours
Resigned

Anonymous said...

Interesting your comment about a third councillor to be exposed!! Could it be the one caught with his pants down on more than one occasion and likes urinating in public places, much to the delight of his group leader!!? Otherwise I assume he would have been expelled from the group and not elevated to the cabinet.

Anonymous said...

1. Its good news for local democracy that an intelligent opposition member has been elected (grudgingly)to Chair of Scrutiny.....that will ensure more open-ness and transparency in the snakepit that is the Anglesey Council chamber.
2. As to Doris, give him enough rope.....
3. As to BD, ditto.
Roll on the local election !

Anonymous said...

We cannot survive when our enemies all represent us. This is the problem, we elect them , they destroy us. No wonder were in a shit state, the whole mess, is created to stifle the people and employ their own families. Why aren't these two cretins SACKED!.

Anonymous said...

Is the complimentary Anon above not BD himself, we wonder ????

Anonymous said...

It is so interesting when thieves fall out !
Having been publicly sacked and ostrecised by his old cronies in the ruling group, BD now goes on public record to bleat and protest that all along he was put up to uncovering abuse and so-called corruption at IACC by others, namely CMcG, and the godfather of them all ES,no doubt egged on by the other known culprits.
He was digging for abuse well before he was elected to the Council.
There may have been abuse....how to judge him ??
Is he so pure white himself, we wonder ?

Anonymous said...

Anon above quotes "So-called corruption in IACC". The best trick the Devil ever played was pretend he never existed. Remember, you smell corruption before you see it. Quote "A slight whiff of corruption has become a foul stench of decay"

Paul Williams said...

Anyone have a link to Durkin's 'press release'?

Anonymous said...

There is a lot of talk about corruption.
What corruption exactly ?
By whom exactly ?
Where is the evidence ?
We achieve nothing without specifics.

Anonymous said...

Evidence can be found in the form of falsified sales invoices and financial statements. IOACC auditor's and grant official's failed to notice and disclose a financial statement on file which was later discovered on WAG files. This financial statement portrays a significantly lower contract value to the own portrayed to the grant applicant and used to draw down grant. What makes it more interesting is the fact that the builder was unaware that he was owed £42,000 until the applicant advised the Council over a year later that he had not paid £42,000 as the paperwork suggested. Then a batch of falsified sales invoices appear in an attempt to make an audit trail. The icing on the cake is that the Council leaked an E-Mail from a Senior Officer advising the builder to issue these invoices and to make an excuse to "Silence" the applicant's accountant who was piecing together the audit-trail.

Anonymous said...

Prima facie corruption and clumsy whitewash to boot.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone been prosecuted, and found guilty ?

Anonymous said...

Lets be fair.
The above story suggests the Council was a victim, not a perpetrator, of false accounting ?
The perpetrator, if guilty, should have been prosecuted.

Anonymous said...

The only victim's are the Grant Applicant; HM Treasury and WAG. The Public pay the ultimate price by being subjected to sub-standard housing for year's to come. The purpose of the Grant's was to bring our housing up to European Standards and not to line the pockets of criminals.

Anonymous said...

As this blog topic is about wayward Councillors, It is not at all clear from this story how the Council, its Officers, or Members, were the supposed perpetrators of corruption or abuse of process ?????
Perceptions are often unreliable.... and always dangerous to rely upon.

Anonymous said...

Forgot to mention the grant applicant was given no supporting documents at the time of application. He had to request all financial documents from the Council who provided him with incomplete financial documents six months later purporting an overall cost of £138,695. A formal request under the Freedom of Information Act in late 2009 unearthed documents clearly showing the applicant had no excess contribution to pay. Documentation also shows the measured work is in the region of £70,000 and is complete with the exception of snagging. The Council had £27,000 in residue grant when the builder left site and the builder was unaware of this and not once did he pursue the applicant or Council for money. The fact that the builder and applicant are both unaware of the contract value plays a significant part in all of this.

Anonymous said...

Then, by implication, the applicant`s agent was the perpetrator.

Anonymous said...

Yes I agree totally, although the agent has produced photocopies of authentic sales invoices which they claim to have submitted to the Council but are not held on Council files. Nevertheless the Council are going to have their work cut out explaining how they managed to overlook the most relevant financial document held on file after an in-depth investigation and somehow arrive at the wrong conclussion that the builder is owed a further £50,000. I cannot stress enough the significance that the builder was unaware he was owed this money.

Anonymous said...

As you describe it, its a police matter.

Anonymous said...

The Police have refused to consider the evidence. We will see who has the last laugh when civil proceedings are brought against those involved.

Anonymous said...

"The Police have refused to consider the evidence" ?
Most unusual....they will usually go after anything on the flimsiest of evidence, even the lies of known criminals !
Anyway, what has this discourse to do with Councillors ???

Anonymous said...

Disclosure has everything to do with it, please refer to Fraud Act 2006 Section 3. In short, to conceal relevant financial information is a criminal offence in itself. And that is exactly what IOACC have done. It can and will be proved that they have knowingly concealed relevant financial documentation. With respect to North Wales they are under resourced, they are self-confessed bean counters who would not know what theft by false accounting was if it ran them over.

Anonymous said...

Council Officers perhaps, but what have IACC Councillors to do with the issue ??

Anonymous said...

I was referring to official's not Elected Council member's, I do apologise. It's the cogs although Elected Councillor's do have a duty of care for the machine to run like clockwork. Councillor's should take measures to ensure they keep a tight ship which is obviously not the case. The Elected Council member's have no influence on the actual running of IOACC and are ridiculed by their manipulators. They are on the whole a flotilla of jellyfish, aimlessly drifting on a sea of lost of opportunity. They are collectively culpable of failing to deliver.

Anonymous said...

Anglesey County Council Grant Policy - The Council Solicitor and Internal Audit Section are unaware of their own Grant Policy. They are unaware that grant official's determine the amount of eligible expense based on estimates provided. Once they accept this it's check mate. Lug

Anonymous said...

That is correct. He has vindicated himself and seriously put their noses out of joint. That is why he is feared in IOACC not because he looks like a Sicilian Godfather.

Well done Barrie for dragging the queen vampire out into the open. It will be a pleasure watching her burn under the Public's glare.

Anonymous said...

What a load of crap and copswallop. This blog dissolved into a rant about Anglesey County Council rather than about 'named and shamed' Councillors. I challenge anyone of the Druid's readers/bloggers to categorically state and prove that its only the 2 councillors named above who are the main culprits. Most council workers, who have to deal with these idiots on a day to day basis, will also tell you quite openly that the most disruptive ones are not part of the ruling group. Take heed number one thickos and bullies aka Peter Rogers and John Chorlton

Anonymous said...

Copswallop is a new fly on the wall documentary on Police brutality in North Wales.

Yes your right about the crap, it seems to be piling up in Llangefni and it stinks. The only person getting stuck into the pile of shit is Barrie (The Rhino) Durkin.

Barrie want's value for public money and services and to maintain his duty of care as an elected Councillor. He will stamp on toes and we the taxpayer love it.

Anonymous said...

You will find that LB was named on her recent retrospective application for pp for the breaches of planning...a matter that has been openly in the public domain for several months ?
The application went before the open committee.
There are often cases of such breaches of pp that are the subject of retrospective planning applications.....they are by no means unusual.
The only unusual factor here is the senior rank of the applicant, as an officer of IACC.
Otherwise, no big deal !

Paul Williams said...

Hi All - I'm well aware that the subject of IOACC can get many people very worked up. But I would like to make one request: as I want to avoid being contacted by anyones solicitor I would be very grateful if you could avoid naming names which are not already in the public domain. I'm sure you understand why...

Anonymous said...

How can the Druid be sued....how can the Druid be identified ?
But, I agree, care in and moderation of utterance are the key words in any public debate.

Anonymous said...

It her own fault, she should have ensured the Planning Application was in order considering her position.

We are not daft, and are fed up to the back teeth of pathetic excuses on behalf of these incompetents.

If it was not for Barrie Durkin this would never have come to light and the original planning application would have been processed. Unreal.

Anonymous said...

Take it from me as one who KNOWS...there is utter rubbish talked about here....lets move on to real substance and TRUTHS....please !

Anonymous said...

Anon above "Take it from me as on who KNOWS".

If you are a Councillor you really do not know because you have been misinformed by your Internal Audit Section and are about to be blasted clean out of the water for attempting to cover up a very serious matter, which should have been brought to the attention of the Police a long time ago.

Lug

Anonymous said...

Not a Councillor.
Not an Officer.
Not a Mason.
Not uninformed.
Just a worried Anglesey taxpayer.
This blog should move on to a higher intellectual plane ?

Anonymous said...

LUG, or whatever you call yourself ?
Not a Councillor.
Not an Officer.
Not a Mason.
Just one who KNOWS !
Lets move on to a higher intellectual plane, please.

Anonymous said...

I must have logged onto the "I love IOACC" blog. Anon why do you dislike me so much? Is it because you see me as your nemesis. I recommend you get on your plane and fly away. Anyway, ignorant bastards normally do perceive themselves as intellectual.

I'm a one man anti-crime wave, like it or not Einstein.

Lug the merciless

Anonymous said...

He doesn't stand any messing does he, me thinks heads will roll.
It's a pity the "Rhino" isn't standing for parliament he'd win hands down.

Anonymous said...

Pity this blog has degenerated.

Anonymous said...

Anon, please accept that I have a rock of granite evidence and am going to smash it over the head of IOACC in Court.

Their houses, cars and boats will be recovered under the proceeds of crime and this island will once again be able to breathe.

I intend making the CPS an offer for their confiscated sailing yatch in the South of France. Let's face it, they will not be sailing into the sunset.

Lug the merciless

Anonymous said...

LUG ??...what is this guy smoking ?

Anonymous said...

I'm about to smoke a big fat joint of Urban Poison otherwise known as IOACC.

Lug

Anonymous said...

Elwyn Schofield named, shamed and ostracised ???....yet he`s just been elected by his cronies in ruling group to Chair of Anglesey Charitable Trust (the Shell money trust)....evidently cronyism is still alive and well in the IACC mafia ?

Cllr Durkin said...

Wrong again Anonymous.

Cllr Elwyn Schofield was re-elected as Chairman of the Anglesey Charitable Trust. "(The shell money trust)"as you call it, on a unanimous decision, which included all the opposition members there.

So please lets have it right or not at all.
Thank you.
Cllr Durkin.

Anonymous said...

Could BD hold surgeries where all disgruntled complainants who vent with such vagueness in this blog could attend and have their complaints taken on board by the big man himself ....Barrie the Champion...are you up for it ????

Anonymous said...

Anon, the disgruntled complainants would form a queue from Benllech to LLangefni and would need a field hospital and not a surgery to deal with the victims.