Letter: Can We Have A ‘No’ To an Elected Mayor Petition?

Published on: 23 Apr, 2016
Updated on: 23 Apr, 2016

From Brian Holt

Why is it Mr Mansbridge and Monika Juneja, have to get signatures from university students for her, “Elected Mayor Petition”? The students are only living in Guildford while at university.

With Guildford borough’s population at over 150,000 why cannot they get enough signatures from us, the true and permanent Guildford residents, the people who should be making the decisions, rather than temporary student residents.

Mr Mansbridge is getting his local residents in Tongham to sign. I say to him and his fellow Tongham residents come and be brave enough to face the true situation in Guildford town, talk to us that are directly affected.

Stephen Mansbridge and Monika Juneja are becoming very unpopular in Guildford.

Can we have a petition for “NO” to a elected mayor and let the true Guildford people have their say.

Responses to Letter: Can We Have A ‘No’ To an Elected Mayor Petition?

Simon Bragg Reply

April 24, 2016 at 5:25 pm

I would like there to be a referendum on whether Guildford should be run by a mayor to put an end to this sorry saga. If the public do decide they want a mayoral system I can see Susan Parker sweeping the board.
Ben Paton Reply

April 30, 2016 at 8:05 pm

The leader of the council, Cllr Spooner, has recently created a new portfolio heading “University of Surrey Students’ Union”. Cllr Iseult Roche [Con, Worplesdon] adds this responsibility to her portfolio.

Members of the public may be surprised that the Students’ Union of a university should become a cabinet responsibility of the local council. Does this happen in Oxford or Cambridge or anywhere else?

What’s so special about the students’ union? Does it still support former Cllr Juneja’s petition? How many members does it have and how are they chosen?

Invited to respond Cllr Paul Spooner (Con, Ash South and Tongham) said: “Ridiculous. No comment.”
Bernard Parke Reply

May 1, 2016 at 8:42 am

Further to Mr Paton’s comment, the students should not have representation without council taxation.

Perhaps we should form a new “Tea Party?”
- Ben Paton Reply
  
  May 1, 2016 at 12:24 pm
  
  This was, after all, the principle on which Parliament fought the King in the English Civil War and the 13 colonies of the United States declared their independence from the Crown in 1776.
  
  If the students don’t pay taxes and only stay in Guildford for three or four years then why should they have a disproportionate influence on politics in Guildford?
  
  What proportion of the signatures, which students were paid by Monika Juneja to collect, come from students?
- Anna-Marie Davis Reply
  
  May 2, 2016 at 10:44 am
  
  I agree entirely with Messrs Parke and Paton above. Why has the University of Surrey Students’ Union got a portfolio holder, when my local Conservative councillor ignores her constituents and is absent from meetings, while I pay her for the privilege?
  
  Does the Royal Surrey County Hospital have a specific portfolio holder? The only people who could assess governance at Guildford as satisfactory are those with no understanding of it whatsoever.