Now Ye're Talking - to a rural county councillor

Nokia6230i · 14-08-2018 10:18pm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Then the Council's own processes for dealing with difficult tenants kicks in. You can 'demand' all you like from Housing officials, but you don't get unless you meet the requirements.

Which takes forever and a day; getting A/S tenants out must be a nightmare and Gardai nearly always have to have a presence to prevent a riot/public order incident breaking out.

Where I live we've had the local PBP rep try making a name for themselves for two consecutive Summers now by attending an "eviction" in one case (illegal parking of caravan on public lands in a council estate) and what to all intents and purposes was a homeless campout outside the LA offices (incl. free Supermacs for as long as they were there too; half expected to pass by someday and see a campfire with marshmallows and Cum By Ya My Lord being sang) where both the individual involved and her kid were playing ACT, PBP & the Hub but they too were also playing her; political football if you will.

Both parties in these incidents would be worthy of ASBOs but have been tolerated for far too long by their neighbours, sometimes because those neighbours've been in fear of not toeing the party line.

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 10:22pm

Nokia6230i wrote: »

With that pay scale, 22k, wouldn't a Cllr. qualify for social housing?

Does the threshold in terms of low income differ from LA to LA?

Obviously the optics of a Cllr. securing social housing aren't great but if they've no other means of income then they're as entitled (that word!) as anyone else.

Well a lot of councillors would have part or full time jobs on top of being a councillor (How, I don't know because it's hectic on it's own) other councillors are retired or maybe have land that they have set. Others maybe have a spouse who has a higher paid job etc.

But if you're "Just a councillor" you better hope you've no mortgage or rent to pay.

I have tried to take on part time jobs since I became elected but I could not make it work. It was either docked councillor pay for not making 85% of the meetings (which is a requirement) or docked "Job" pay for having to ring in sick to attend meetings.

Then there's the job interviews.... Oh you're a councillor... have you the time to work here?

Nokia6230i · 14-08-2018 10:25pm

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA wrote: »

Housing crisis will be fixed, not today or this year but it will.

I'm familiar with similar cases like the one you described but neither your case or mine are the main problem but they don't help.

You're right about your parents generation, they valued things like a home more. Then again, that was when there was really no choice. Maybe the issue these days is that you can stay in private rented accommodation subsidised by the state, maybe a four bed house with ensuite rooms so why accept a smaller house when your bills could be similar?

The answer to that question should be, because you are being offered this and nowhere else maybe... but then again, everyones circumstance are different and it's not as simple as we'd all like it to be.

That bit, in bold there brings me onto the H.A.P.

I find it bizarre that, for example if I rent a 1 Bed Flat for 550 and someone else rents a room and pays 350 we both pay the same amount, 27 Euro to the LA.

Surely the person renting the room should pay slightly more based on their cheaper rent; it doesn't always suit, for various reasons (and NOT entitlement ones!) for someone to downsize from the 1 Bed to a property share.

Also, I **think** the council will pay the same to landlord pro-rata instead of paying a slightly bigger amount to landlord of the 1 bed which, I think, should be the case unless I'm out of touch here.....

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 10:29pm

Reputable Rog wrote: »

What was your opinion of Phil Hogan? Do you think FG are hard wired to self destruct when they get into power? By this I mean seem to always go for the most unpopular choices.

Big Phil made some big calls and some of them he got wrong, but he did a lot of good in public life and I hope history is kind to him.

It's not that FG are prone to self destruct it's that usually we're coming in after FF who have partied for 10 years and we spend our time cleaning their mess and just when the dust is settling they get back in and it's party time.

That's a bit simplified but hey....

RustyNut · 14-08-2018 10:30pm

Did your council increase, decrease or leave the home tax alone this year?

How did you vote?

Why did you vote that way?

Thanks.

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 10:31pm

Purple Mountain wrote: »

That's pretty sh*te!

Well maybe, but I think most councillors would do it without pay, the problem is the job has gotten bigger, the workload is huge and the renumeration doesn't match up.

But nobody becomes a councillor to get rich, sure, how could they?

Nokia6230i · 14-08-2018 10:36pm

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA wrote: »

Well a lot of councillors would have part or full time jobs on top of being a councillor (How, I don't know because it's hectic on it's own) other councillors are retired or maybe have land that they have set. Others maybe have a spouse who has a higher paid job etc.

But if you're "Just a councillor" you better hope you've no mortgage or rent to pay.

I have tried to take on part time jobs since I became elected but I could not make it work. It was either docked councillor pay for not making 85% of the meetings (which is a requirement) or docked "Job" pay for having to ring in sick to attend meetings.

Then there's the job interviews.... Oh you're a councillor... have you the time to work here?

Those employers're missing a trick; they should be asking "What can you do for us? How can you, as a Cllr. benefit the company?" (with a wink here & a nudge there....!)

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 10:36pm

RustyNut wrote: »

Did your council increase, decrease or leave the home tax alone this year?

How did you vote?

Why did you vote that way?

Thanks.

We left the rate at 0.

That is to say we neither increased nor decreased the property tax.

I voted for this because our services are already stripped to the bone and we could not afford to cut services by another cent and while there may have been merit to increase and ring fence the funds raised for badly needed community projects it didn't seem fair to be constantly asking the people who already pay for everything to once again subsidise the community they live in. Even thought a 10% increase would have been approx €12 extra for the year for the biggest sized house. That's €12 not 120, €12. Yet that same 10% would have given the council almost half a million euro to put back into the county.

AndrewJRenko · 14-08-2018 10:37pm

Nokia6230i wrote: »

Is this "three refusals" and you're out (or at least back to bottom of priority list depending on your priority such as disability or family size etc.) across the board or does it depend on individual local authority?

In the case of the lady last week I have empathy with Dub City Council or whichever LA is responsible; how do you find a house with sufficient rooms for a mother/father and seven kids; one's a baby, some're toddlers, rest're children.

In that case you need a four bed property by my Maths; that's not easy to come by and if the family increase in size (and the lady's only 28 so it's a distinct probability) it gets even more difficult to house them.

I got it slightly wrong - two refusals without good reason and you're off the list for a year;

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/local_authority_and_social_housing/social_housing_waiting_lists.html

Refusing an offer
If you are offered a house or flat that you do not want, you can refuse it without affecting your place on the housing list. However, if the local authority thinks that you do not have a good reason for refusing the offer, it may reduce your priority on the list. If you refuse more than one reasonable offer in any 12-month period, you will be suspended from the list for 12 months, during which you cannot claim Rent Supplement.

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 10:47pm

Reputable Rog wrote: »

Why Fine Gael?And no the fact your father or grandfather was an FG supporter is not an answer. What is your political mantra?

I liked the people in FG, I liked the faces I seen on TV, the voices I heard on radio and I felt they were the party of rural Ireland.

I always liked that FG were the party of Law and Order. (Not SVU now, but in terms of founding the state)

I liked that although FG itself didn't exist at the foundation of the state the amalgamation of parties that did found the state became FG. I wanted to be associated with these people.

My local politicians were/are really good people and all in FG, they worked hard, they didn't seem to crave the limelight and they were well got in the area.

I also liked that they saw me as a good bet. We all like to have our ego massaged and while I don't crave the limelight either it's always nice to be highly thought of.

That's as honest as I can be really?

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 10:54pm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Sorry, I wasn't clear, I was referring to reports from people submitted via FixMyStreet of potholes or litter or illegal adverts or broken street lights.

I've had very mixed responses to these, some things fixed within days, others get zero response and are still outstanding years later.

Is there any proper process around these? Is anyone monitoring the number of reports submitted and actioned by department or section?

I would always say contact a councillor.

Some people want to be independent and they don't want to ever "Need" a politician. But give a politician a problem and it becomes their problem then.

In relation to those reports and the filmystreet, I guess they can also be used as a "well that website is not run by this local authority" but some councils do use them well.

In my local authority, issues like the ones mentioned require a phone call to an engineer and maybe a second one as a reminder but usually pretty good results. Unless its a light and then you're on to whatever company has the contract for light repairs.

Perhaps a structured reporting system across all local authorities is needed?

slavetothegrind · 14-08-2018 11:11pm

Do you not think Ireland is too small for all these local councils and a bigger broader approach would be better?

Ideally elect the best person for the job and then they do it in another constituancy where they know nobody and concentrate on the job rather than the reverberations in the community/family of every decision made.

Agent Smith · 14-08-2018 11:11pm

Boards.ie: Niamh wrote: »

Our next guest is a rural Fine Gael county councillor. He has been elected to the council for a number of years now. He has a background in community volunteering. He is here to answer any questions you have about the county council and how it is to work there, how it functions and what powers and responsibilities the county council has in the local area.

Do you have a bedside locker?

Whats in your bedside locker?

Did you participate in the recent referendum?

Klonker · 15-08-2018 12:18am

Whats your thoughts in the Margaret Cash situation (The woman with 7 kids in garda station)?

If you were a TD would you like to speak out and say this woman doesn't deserve a house, what needs to happen is her children be taking off her and leave her on the street?

Do you think some TDs think like this and are afraid to say due to the fallout?

Do you think TDs are out of touch with the majority of voters because if they did say like I outlined above they would be agreeing with large majority going by here and social media?

Do you think there needs to be an overhaul of how social housing/ HAP is giving out at the moment? It seems to be not beneficial to work at the moment. Something along the lines of if you are on the housing list or already in HAP/ social housing that which means that you cannot support yourself and family currently, that if you have another child you should go to bottom of list or be punished monetarily in some way?

PS I know you're not a TD but it's just councillor isn't on national level.

Nokia6230i · 15-08-2018 12:48am

Klonker wrote: »

Whats your thoughts in the Margaret Cash situation (The woman with 7 kids in garda station)?

If you were a TD would you like to speak out and say this woman doesn't deserve a house, what needs to happen is her children be taking off her and leave her on the street?

Do you think some TDs think like this and are afraid to say due to the fallout?

Do you think TDs are out of touch with the majority of voters because if they did say like I outlined above they would be agreeing with large majority going by here and social media?

Do you think there needs to be an overhaul of how social housing/ HAP is giving out at the moment? It seems to be not beneficial to work at the moment. Something along the lines of if you are on the housing list or already in HAP/ social housing that which means that you cannot support yourself and family currently, that if you have another child you should go to bottom of list or be punished monetarily in some way?

PS I know you're not a TD but it's just councillor isn't on national level.

While we await the return of and a reply from said Cllr. do you mind if I take (some of) this on please?

Esp. the being more beneficial NOT to work bit.

Currently I'm a welfare recipient; not a position I want or like to be in but various decisions I've made have led me to point of unemployable.

Now it probably depends on the constituency/city/area/town/county/village etc. you're in but I'm of opinion that for me, a single man who lives alone, the benefits are too generous; not enormously or extraordinarily so but there's definitely room for manoeuvre (sp?) there.

Example. I receive 198 per week; for majority of October (bar 1st week I think) to end of April (bar last week I think) I get 20 top up for fuel a week as well.

Now get this; my gas (& bar anything over 80 every 2 months, my electricity is too) is included in my rent; kerching!

I pay 56 per month for broadband & 135 rent per week.

I get 69.Something for Rent Allowance (or Rent Supplement).

So total income is 198 + 69 = 267

Take rent off it's 132 minus 13.02 (UPC) - 4.65 (Vodafone) = 114.33.

Now I appreciate lifestyle comes into it and I live like a squirrel burying its nuts for winter all year round; frugally.

I'd be confident enough each week of making 50 profit; I put it away for a rainy day/Christmas for example and I save a few bob before I get to this point in the local credit union.

As I say peoples circumstances differ but I think knowing I can realistically aim to have 50 in my pocket by Sunday night having collected on a Monday means our system's too generous.

Where I live we've a soup kitchen, I think there's food parcel deliveries done 5 days, maybe even 6 or 7 too so if I wanted to hit up any of those places I'd probably "make" even more.

And remember this is worst case scenario; I'm not even counting the extra 20 in fuel allowance!

Then factor in medical card; privately I used pay 50-60 each visit, plus I'd have added cost of missing time off work be it an hour or two (which could be 25 Euro if it was two hours) or a few days and then the cost of the item/s on prescription.

Now? It's 100% free, same level of service & treatment from Nurse/Dr. in terms of time and diagnosis and the other day I went to pay for my prescription items (5 on this occasion; thankfully my GP visits're in low single figures annually at best and always were); I posited 2.50 x 5 only to be given a Brucies Bonus and be told that nope, no, they're now reduced to 2 Euro each only.

No idea of child allowance or what a couple might make in benefits and everyones circumstances differ in terms of a mortgage/MIS/rent/childcare/transport or travel costs (I don't drive which is a huge help) but in my situation, in area I live I think we need to look at individual cases rather than this across the board thing; the issue will be staffing levels to do this though but I think the savings would be worth the investment long term.

p15574 · 15-08-2018 8:39am

Turbohymac wrote:

Hi..any chance of a reply to my earlier post ..as a taxpayer logging into fixmystreet as you mentioned to an earlier contributor certainly ain't my job and highlights just how removed from everyday life some local authorities are.

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

In fairness, reporting an issue via FixMyStreet is no more difficult that reporting an issue any other way. You're going to have to tell them the location and the nature of the problem, so FixMyStreet is as good as any way of doing this. The real question is how the Council respond to these reports.

Exactly. An unwillingness to use FixMyStreet shows how far removed from reason some people are, you can't expect to have your a**e wiped for you. How is the council to know about stuff otherwise? Third hand reports via councillors where details may get lost in the meantime vs a first-person report with GPS coordinates etc? I've used it to report broken street lamps and they've been fixed within 2-3 hours.

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 15-08-2018 10:04am

slavetothegrind wrote: »

Do you not think Ireland is too small for all these local councils and a bigger broader approach would be better?

Ideally elect the best person for the job and then they do it in another constituancy where they know nobody and concentrate on the job rather than the reverberations in the community/family of every decision made.

Well you see this is why there are council officials who will call bull**** on a lot of parish pump type ideas. Ok, at a public vote tricks can be played and callers will try all sorts to get publicity. But in general no area does proportionately better because of the cute hoor actions of any particular councillor.

I don't think Ireland is too small for councils I think the councils should be given even more responsibility to be honest.

And I don't mean to be smart but the electorate has the responsibility to elect the best person for the job.

If people vote for "cute heroism" they have to put up with it, unfortunately.

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 15-08-2018 10:09am

Agent Smith wrote: »

Do you have a bedside locker?

Whats in your bedside locker?

Did you participate in the recent referendum?

Yes I have a bedside locker. It's small but it's ideal.

There's a lamp, a clock radio (which drives herself mad when I want to listen to Morning Ireland at 7am) a Fitbit (that I keep forgetting to charge) and two books that I haven't had time to read, Chris Hadfield the astronaut and Charlie Birds autobiography ! You'll usually find my charging phone there at night also!

Yes, I campaigned for a yes vote in the 8th amendment and likewise for marriage equality.

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 15-08-2018 10:27am

Klonker wrote: »

Whats your thoughts in the Margaret Cash situation (The woman with 7 kids in garda station)?

If you were a TD would you like to speak out and say this woman doesn't deserve a house, what needs to happen is her children be taking off her and leave her on the street?

Do you think some TDs think like this and are afraid to say due to the fallout?

Do you think TDs are out of touch with the majority of voters because if they did say like I outlined above they would be agreeing with large majority going by here and social media?

Do you think there needs to be an overhaul of how social housing/ HAP is giving out at the moment? It seems to be not beneficial to work at the moment. Something along the lines of if you are on the housing list or already in HAP/ social housing that which means that you cannot support yourself and family currently, that if you have another child you should go to bottom of list or be punished monetarily in some way?

PS I know you're not a TD but it's just councillor isn't on national level.

I was not surprised to see this scenario.

Please don't think that I am cold hearted but I genuinely felt concern for those children. Not the mother.

Whatever the circumstances concerned I think to use children in the form their mother did and the way the media ran with it was absolutely disgusting. We know we have housing issues, but this appeared to be a domestic issue and TUSLA would have been the place to deal with it and not Joe Duffy.

One search on the mothers facebook page was a good indication that all was not as it seemed here.

I think it's time TD's and ministers started calling out some of the problems. Conor Skeehan said it over a year ago, there are people gaming the system.

I have no doubt that this woman and her children FELT they had nowhere to go that night but it was not a homeless/housing issue.

I think there is a fear to say the above but not of the electorate who will agree with them but of the media who love a shocking story because it sells.

I think TD's are very much in touch but what they feel they can say and what the actually do say are totally different. Have a conversation with your local TD, apart from the alphabet soup pretend socialists, most will give you the cold hard facts, and they are that 1. we do need to build houses and 2. the system is being played.

I would like to see an overhaul of social housing HAP, but the floodgates will open for us politicians and isn't that part of the problem

p15574 · 15-08-2018 10:52am

1. Do you have a long term plan in politics, eg going on to become a TD?
2. What would you think of a "list" system, ie where councillors take care of the parish pump stuff and TDs are elected on a solely national level?

Gloomtastic! · 15-08-2018 11:08am

Are you expected to go to party shindigs?

Are you given any training as part of the party? eg media training

Who is your boss? How many layers of people are there between you and Leo?

Have you met him and or/other big cheeses in the party? Who impresses you most in the party and in Irish politics generally and likewise, who have you not been impressed with?

Can you share the last bit of political gossip you heard?

AndrewJRenko · 15-08-2018 11:19am

Nokia6230i wrote: »

Which takes forever and a day; getting A/S tenants out must be a nightmare and Gardai nearly always have to have a presence to prevent a riot/public order incident breaking out.

Is it really a 'nightmare' and does it 'nearly always' involve Gardai, or has this happened in one or two high profile cases that you've heard about and NOT happened in all the other cases that you haven't heard about?

And really, is it fair to judge social housing by the tiny number of extreme cases that hit the headlines?

AndrewJRenko · 15-08-2018 11:25am

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA wrote: »

I would always say contact a councillor.

Honestly, this is hugely disappointing. If you're not making sure that ALL reports to the Council get actioned, regardless of whether they come through a Councillor or not, you're not doing your job.

You should be aiming for a situation where no-one HAS to go through a Councillor to get things done. That will leave you time for your strategic functions on budgeting and planning instead of chasing potholes.

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA wrote: »

I have no doubt that this woman and her children FELT they had nowhere to go that night but it was not a homeless/housing issue.

So where should she have gone that night, other than the Garda Station?

canonball5 · 15-08-2018 11:28am

Why is it that junkies are allowed free travel passes?

AndrewJRenko · 15-08-2018 11:44am

canonball5 wrote: »

Why is it that junkies are allowed free travel passes?

Now Ye're Talking - to a rural county councillor

?????

canonball5 · 15-08-2018 11:51am

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

?????

What's your issue?

I live in a rural part of Ireland and commute to Dublin and there are numerous junkies travelling up every morning free of charge whilst I pay over 2.5k per year to use this service. As a member of a political party, I'm asking why is this allowed to happen? It's not as though they're off to a hard days work!!

Boards.ie: Niamh · 15-08-2018 12:50pm

Can we stick with questions for the OP please before we go down the rabbit hole? Thanks.

Toto Wolfcastle · 15-08-2018 1:18pm

Seems like a pretty thankless job to me. Are there perks? Do you get free Ed Sheeran tickets or an extra scoop of chips in the chipper?

Damien360 · 15-08-2018 6:10pm

Thanks for the very personal response to the Margaret Cash situation. Pity there are not more politicians and particularly journalists with a bit more willingness to speak up. This isn't sarcasm. Well done.

Thoie · 15-08-2018 6:25pm

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA wrote: »

Ah potholes, the absolute bane of every rural councillors life. Have you seen the website www.fixmystreet.ie ? It can be a useful tool. If you would like to forward me the location and I will contact your local authority and report it.

Harping on about potholes a bit more.

1. How bored do you get of hearing about potholes?
2. Why are so many potholes so poorly repaired? I can pinpoint more than 20 in a short stretch that are big, and recurring. Every now and then, a lump of tar gets thrown into it, but the job isn't done properly, so the holes reform in the space of weeks. In a month, they're huge again, and have to be reported all over again.
3. When contractors for the utility companies dig up roads, afaik they pay a bond to the council to ensure the roads are put back in the original state (or better). That never seems to happen - there's always a ridiculous trench/dip, half arsed job done of filling them in. Do the contractors actually get their bond back, or do the councils keep it? If they keep it, why isn't it spent on putting the road back in a proper condition? Are contractors ever refused permission to dig, based on the state they've left previous roads?

And not pothole related:
4. How do you decide to "back" a presidential candidate? Do you have set criteria that you use, or is it just a vote at a meeting? If I (a complete unknown), jumped up and said I'd like your council's backing to run for president, what kind of things would you be looking for to help you decide to support me?

Now Ye're Talking - to a rural county councillor

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