‘Elected Mayor Petition’ Organiser Submits New Signatures to Cross Threshold

Published on: 10 Mar, 2016
Updated on: 10 Mar, 2016

Petition organiser Monika Juneja

The organiser of the “Elected Mayor Petition”, former councillor Monika Juneja, has reported that a further 300 signatures have been submitted to Guildford Borough Council (GBC) this morning (March 10).

She hopes that this should be sufficient to take her petition over the 5,012 threshold necessary to force a referendum to be held within the borough for an elected mayor system of governance.

Following the verification process of the last batch of signatures submitted the petition, she believes, is just 180 short of the 5,012 required.

Ms Juneja sent the following letter to Satish Mistry, the monitoring officer at GBC, this morning:

“Dear Mr Mistry,

You confirmed that there were 3,570 valid signatures in my original petition of 5,123. You further confirmed that my second similar (your terminology, although the question was identical) petition had 1,261 valid signatures from a total of 1,780 submitted, making a combined total of 4,831 valid signatures against a target total of 5,012. You also confirm that I am hereby handing in an additional 300 signatures to be added to both these petitions, which is 119 in excess of the required total. I would be grateful if you would confirm receipt of these additional signatures and a re-affirmation of your stated commitment to validate this petition within 28 days of receipt.

If this latest batch of signatures does not meet the required number, then I will need to come and examine each signature that has been discounted and I shall expect a full and proper explanation for each discounted signature.

Thank you for your assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Monika Juneja”

Responses to ‘Elected Mayor Petition’ Organiser Submits New Signatures to Cross Threshold

Adam Knight Reply

March 10, 2016 at 11:11 am

Disgraced former councillor Monika Juneja is quoted on the Eagle radio station as saying…

“Having been on the inside of the council and seeing the bureaucracy and the lack of wanting to do something and moving Guildford to where it should be – it’s behind in so many ways.

“We are letting people down.

“This petition is very much about the people. It is the people deciding why they want this.”

This is quite frankly a disgrace. Letting people down? Accusing the town of being racist, ‘forgetting’ about her guilt until three days after the election, paying students to mis-inform the public to collect these signatures… are these not actions which seriously let people down?

How she has the cheek to want to still be part of local politics, after she misled so many people for such a long period of time, I cannot comprehend.

I just hope that the people of this town realise who exactly they have been let down by, and are not taken in by this woman’s continued lies.
George Dokimakis Reply

March 10, 2016 at 11:40 am

This is painful. Does she and the people bank rolling her recognise the cost of such a referendum for the borough?
Mary Bedforth Reply

March 10, 2016 at 11:59 am

The Hebrew word “chutzpah” is the quality of audacity. The Yiddish word derives from the Hebrew word ḥutspâ (חֻצְפָּה), meaning “insolence”, “cheek” or “audacity”.
Jim Allen Reply

March 10, 2016 at 12:54 pm

I just hope beyond hope this venture fails in a similar manner as the Franklin Expedition. Lost with all hands. Never to be discovered for 100 years.
Tony Edwards Reply

March 10, 2016 at 1:54 pm

This whole proposal, to continue with the Yiddish, sounds like a shmouzey spiel from a not so kosher schmuck.
- Pauline Surrey Reply
  
  March 11, 2016 at 6:30 pm
  
  Lovely Tony!
Anna-Marie Davis Reply

March 10, 2016 at 2:37 pm

“We are letting people down”. Which “we” is she referring to? I seem to remember the High Court Judge stating that “her public life [was] over” when sentencing her for seven criminal acts, including forgery.

She seems to hold his opinion in almost as little regard as any right thinking Guildfordian holds hers. Why she thinks she is qualified to determine “where Guildford should be” is astounding. Perhaps she is as qualified for that as she was to call herself a barrister?

I would be very interested to see how many of these signatures are from students. Of course, each signature needs to be less than 12 months old and of a current Guildford resident, so I trust the returning officer will be checking each signature once more to ensure that on the final amalgamation date each signature, from each of the three submissions, is still currently a resident in the borough in accordance with the regulations.

However, it has taken her some time, considerably money, and quite dubious tactics to scrape together the required signatures. I am confident that after a campaign exposing her credentials the electorate will vote against the proposal. Should the people of Guildford vote for a mayor, it will be interesting to see if Stephen Mansbridge, controversial former council leader and her business partner, decides to stand after stating he had no interest in the position, or the petition for that matter.
Jules Cranwell Reply

March 10, 2016 at 11:37 pm

“…letting the people down”, No, no, no, letting the people down is pretending to be something you are not, gaining a pecuniary interest, and forging your credentials, whilst holding public office.
Valerie Thompson Reply

March 11, 2016 at 1:26 pm

As I have said before, the worst situation for Guildford would be to have an elected mayor. What we do not need is for a politically-motivated person to have dictatorial control of Guildford.

The mayor’s position should remain as it is, honorary – involved in everything from flower shows to children’s activities, to concerts and social events, with the benefit of some fund-raising.

To allow this referendum to succeed would be to deny Guildfordians any further chance of change for the next ten years. Guildford Borough Council is certainly not perfect, but they have gone through a change of governance recently and hopefully decisions they make will be honest, transparent (where have we heard those words before?) and democratic. Paying for signatures is not a democratic process.

I ask readers to talk to everyone they know about the Monika Juneja and her awful plans. There are still people around who have never heard of her and her misdeeds. Why she didn’t retire from public life is a mystery. She has no shame.
James Walsh Reply

March 11, 2016 at 2:21 pm

What phenomenal drive there is behind this petition and call for an elected Mayor. Trouble is, has any of it come from bona fide Guildford residents (apart from the obvious one or two who have a huge vested interest in seeing it happen)?

That a convicted forger is the front for this shambles would be laughable were it not for the fact that her persistence seems to be never-ending.

It’d be interesting to know exactly how many residents demanded this petition and how many have been hungering for the opportunity to invest considerable power in one individual.

Apart from the the two or three we’re all well aware of, of course.
Jules Cranwell Reply

March 11, 2016 at 11:46 pm

Surely GBC would be within its rights to reject a petition orchestrated by a convicted criminal?

If not then perhaps they should refer the matter to the police, given the risks.

Does this woman have no shame?

Following other similar comments we spoken to different authorities and understand that there is nothing legally to prevent Ms Juneja organising her petition. Ed
Pete Brayne Reply

March 12, 2016 at 1:09 pm

This is scary as it takes advantage of electoral apathy. We can expect a turnout less than that of the Police Crime Commissioner.

Not ‘real’ democracy I think.
Jenny Procter Reply

March 12, 2016 at 10:27 pm

What value democracy in the face of apathy and a legal system that appears to fail to defend against blatant exploitation of elastic regulation in what is acceptable in raising a petition.

The goal is open if there is no appetite to defend it and this lady and her supporters are working it to advantage.

I hope Guildford will be concerned enough to make sure the vested interest of the few promoting this petition is not rewarded and that our money as tax payers is not used against our interests to give us even less democratic options than we currently have.
Mary Bedforth Reply

March 17, 2016 at 6:50 pm

I noticed the other day that the premises in Swan Lane rented by GBC for the Local Plan fiasco are now vacant, so what a waste of our council tax that was.

There are vestiges of the GBC tenancy to be seen on the windows – those silly coloured balloons for instance

http://wadhamandisherwood.co.uk/uploaded-files/property/5271/files/6235/Guildford25SwanLane.pdf

We never had any details of the ‘community service’ carried out.

Quotes from a press report dated 16.6.2015:

“A sentence of 18 months was reduced to 14 months due to her eventual guilty pleas, concurrent for each count and suspended for two years.

“She was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work “for the benefit of the public” in a year, and pay a victim surcharge.”

“The judge said Monika Juneja had lived a 14 year lie but suspended her prison sentence due to “exceptional circumstances.” What were the ‘exceptional circumstances’?

There is residual anger being felt at this travesty.