Kicking off at Middlesbrough Council

Deer Mr Preston,

We fink you have been proppa norty wiv wot you have been up two. We all desided to rite this letter so that you no we are not going to take this lying down. We have all sined this letter to let you no how angry we all are after having a meeting beyind your back to talk about you.

Middelsbro cowncil has never had any norty beyaviya like this befor. Well not since Ray Mallon anyroad. You like the sownd of your own voyce too much and yor plans seem to be pie in the sky for this town.

Yors Sinseerly,

All of us innit.
 
Billy Horner said:
That’s how they managed to force Mallon out in the end. Unfortunately, as he announced that he wouldn’t seek re-election, the councillors didn’t follow through with the threat, so the position still exists.
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This isn't true. Mallon had been mayor for 13 years and wasn't standing again. There was a referendum held a couple of years earlier to decide if the elected mayor system was to be retained moving forward. Andy Preston used his own money to set up a campaign in favour of having an elected mayor. This was obviously because he wanted that position for himself.
 
Billy Horner said:
It’s virtually impossible to remove a directly elected mayor from office. What the councillors could do though make a decision in Full Council to hold a referendum next year on abolishing the position of elected mayor. If passed, there would be no position for him to seek re-election to.

That’s how they managed to force Mallon out in the end. Unfortunately, as he announced that he wouldn’t seek re-election, the councillors didn’t follow through with the threat, so the position still exists.

Personally, I think there are too many examples around the country of ‘maverick’ mayors being elected whose administrations end up in perpetual conflict with the rest of the council. There’s no need for an elected mayor for an individual council now that we have Metro Mayors to give the area a political profile.
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There's no need for a metro mayor either.
 
Am wondering if the timing is linked to ...

FUTURE OF FOUR KEY SITES TO BE EXPLORED IN JOINT VENTURE​

fmttmboro.com

FUTURE OF FOUR KEY SITES TO BE EXPLORED IN JOINT VENTURE

A PARTNERSHIP is being launched to find a future for some of Middlesbrough's most domineering yet unused buildings. Middlesbrough Council and Jomast Developments are set to enter into a collaborative joint venture to explore new opportunities and potential external funding sources. The first...
fmttmboro.com fmttmboro.com
 
JustTheGent said:
This isn't true. Mallon had been mayor for 13 years and wasn't standing again. There was a referendum held a couple of years earlier to decide if the elected mayor system was to be retained moving forward. Andy Preston used his own money to set up a campaign in favour of having an elected mayor. This was obviously because he wanted that position for himself.
Click to expand...

Yes, you are right of course. I was misremembering.
 
Preston's statement

My Response To Unfounded Allegations
Let me be absolutely clear – these allegations are completely untrue. I’m not sure how anyone can make such accusations without a scrap of evidence.
Ultimately, if anyone believes I’ve done wrong, they’d be better advised going through the appropriate channels and putting in an official complaint to the council, rather than making defamatory public remarks.
Whatever I do, it’s always about putting Middlesbrough and its people first.
I’ve done that for my two years as mayor and I was doing that for many years before I was elected, setting up and running two local charities that raised about £6 million, nearly all of it for struggling Teesside people.
I was elected with 59% of the vote just two years ago to halt 40 years of decline in the town. Anyone can see that, despite the real challenge of Covid, I’m making massive progress in transforming the town for the better.
If the public aren’t happy with the job I’m doing, they can have their say at the election in two years’ time.
Any attempt to force me to go before then is both undemocratic and insulting to those who voted for me or anyone else at the last election.
Yet again, this is about those who don’t like the fact that I’m a very different mayor than any other.
I do things differently, I challenge the status quo and I clearly upset a few people along the way who’d like things to stay just how they are.
Clearly some people want me to resign. But I’ve got bad news for them. I won’t.
Certain people behind the scenes want power themselves and this is just another example of how they’ll stop at nothing in their desperation.
*There was Cokegate during the election when I was reported to the police for allegedly trying to bribe someone with a Diet Coke.
*There’s the ongoing saga of alleged inappropriate material being seen on my office computer, at a time when I wasn’t in the office, nor had I been at any time that day, with the local MP putting pressure on council officials to reopen an investigation that had previously been considered and closed.
*Now this – a series of unfounded allegations.
The common thread in all of them is that they are untrue and led by those who don’t like the fact that I’m upsetting the applecart.
The facts are that I’m making massive progress in transforming the town for the better.
After years of messing about, we have the money in place to regenerate our town centre. The Northern School of Art is almost ready, we have new offices full and creating new jobs and we’ll have 1,000 new homes around the town centre within two years.
The much-missed Southlands Centre is being rebuilt, Tollesby Shops will be reborn and Teessaurus Park is being brought back to life.
There’s an urban farm and the town’s first secondary school for a generation on the way close to a refurbished railway station that will soon have direct routes to London. Some of these are old ideas that have languished for years but are now finally happening.
We acted swiftly to make sure no children were going hungry during the pandemic, we’ve planted more than 15,000 trees and have made positive steps towards making the town safer.
That’s real progress – and there’s much, much more to come.
That’s what the people of Middlesbrough want and deserve and it’s why they made me their mayor - not these constant underhand and desperate attempts to stop me.
I won’t stop. I won’t resign. I’ll keep doing what’s best for Middlesbrough - whether others behind the scenes like it or not.
Thanks for your support.
Andy
PS respectful comments relevant to this post welcome, others will be removed.
 
What exactly was it that Middlesbrough Council and/or Andy Preston did that allows him to claim credit for the Northern School Of Art?
 
Here is Preston's ratner more literate response. There's going to be a lot of popcorn consumed over the next few weeks I feel.

Edit: my post is the same source as DCI's but if anyone wants to read the facebook replies they are in the link.
 
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He did play an active role in Northern School of Art new site. Hartlepool wanted the School of Art - Andy Preston worked closely with them as the previous Labour administration had with their vision of opening that part of the town up to the college and arts and sound hubs etc.
 
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