Wednesday 4 February 2015

Mark James is staying...


As if things couldn't get any worse, this nauseous press release has just appeared on the council website. The prospect of being refused a gold-plated severance package was clearly too much for Mr James. Or perhaps no one else would give him a job.

Press release from the Leadership of the Council

We are pleased to confirm that following a meeting between the Leadership of the Council
and the Chief Executive, he has agreed to stay on at the Council for the time being.

This is a very challenging time for Councils in Wales as we seek to make huge cuts to our
budgets, whilst trying to maintain services for the people of our County. We are also
uncertain over whether Carmarthenshire will stand alone as a Council in just a few years
time or will be abolished. If ever there was a time when we need a first class, highly
experienced and respected Chief Executive at the helm it is now.

We are therefore delighted that Mark James has agreed to withdraw his application for
severance this year and to remain in post as our Chief Executive for now to help the Council
weather the financial and possible re-organisation storms.

Mark has made such a contribution to our County over the last 13 years, transforming areas
like Carmarthen Town Centre, Llanelli and our South Coast as well as many of our schools
and housing. We know he will continue working for the benefit of our County and leading
our new management team.

Cllr Kevin Madge, Cllr Pam Palmer

Leader of the Council and Deputy Leader of the Council

(Link here)

The toxic culture continues...for now.


(Ruling Labour group announce they will veto a golden handshake  - 7th January)

11 comments:

Wavell said...

What happened with the Severance extension debate ?
Will he re-apply after 1st April ?

Watch this space.

Anonymous said...

Just another politically written statement.
The "for the time being" certainly gives a clue.
In my younger days we would have called them "gang gachi".

Redhead said...

No-one else wants him and he could see his severance pay dropping all the time ... and my guess is that there isn't an officer or majority party councillor prepared to face him down. You poor souls.

Tessa said...

This press release is screamingly funny! I would have suggested Jacqui, that you might re-write it and annotate it with actual meanings, but I don't think you could improve on this for entertainment value!

I'm embarrassed to admit I'm actually rather pleased, in a way. Reading your and Cneifiwr's blogs on the loony antics of that bunch of nutters is always a highlight of my day!

Plus - the Golden Eff-Off remains in the council's coffers. For now, any road.

caebrwyn said...

@Tessa
The press release is a classic, and one a North Korean dictator would approve of. And would probably have written...

Anonymous said...

What a blow for Meryl and Pam's golden boy!Talk about spin,cloud cuckoo land isn't in it.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to hear that the leader of the Council acknowledges the fact that we need a respected CEO at the helm at this time. “If ever there was a time when we need a first class, highly
experienced and respected Chief Executive at the helm it is now.” So where is this paragon of virtue? Is there going to be two CEO's as for some unknown reason Mark James appears to be remaining in post? ONLY joking as I know the EXECUTIVE want no change from the way they continue to protect him from all comers. Yes the toxic culture continues, as you say, for now.

I skimmed through the rest of the blog and fail to understand the apparent enthusiasm of Cllr Madge & Cllr Palmer when mentioning Mark James. Have they forgotten all the Ombudsmen reports mentioning maladministration by his officers under his watch, WAO public interest report fiasco and the WLGA peer report. Who respects him? The way he ignores concerns made by members of the public and whistleblowers about the wrongful acts of his officers is not, in my eyes, the actions of a first class, highly experienced and respected CEO. WHY is he at the helm anyway? HE is an employee of the COUNCIL and has a duty to follow the POLICIES and PROCEDURES of that COUNCIL in the public interest. The EXECUTIVE (our representatives are the people who should be at the helm) making sure each and every officer is acting according to his/her duties. Ignoring his duty is not in the public interest and should not be tolerated by our representatives.

Jennifer Brown (whistleblower)

Anonymous said...

I wonder how many Labour and Independent Members will realise that this farcically fawning fantasy press release will enrage the public. If they were saddled with him, why not keep quiet, rather than wave two defiant fingers. It's not the Press Office who have to face the voters next election.

Anonymous said...

Would they offer the captain of the Titanic a second voyage had he survived?

Anonymous said...

Surely this "press release" is a spoof? Did someone at Private Eye write it?

If it's genuine then it rivals anything that's ever come out of Putin's Russia so Carmarthen not only has a look-alike but an act-alike working for the council.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Tessa.
We might not like it but the other option was to pay him a huge golden handshake. there's no way of 'forcing him to resign' as he would then have an avenue to sue the Council (an us taxpayers). While I find the press release hilarious, the outcome is the same. He stays on until he finds another job or he possibly even goes on the sick.