how do you claim £17,393 in expenses and allowances for attending just 12 meeting?

Mr Monkey has been reviewing some of his older posts and came across this one CLICK HERE about the Conservative group leader’s money grabbing antics.

No one can argue that councillor David Potts has an abysmal record when it comes to attending meetings and in the last 12 months he’s attended just 12 meetings out of a possible 71 and has been paid more than £14,000 in allowances and claimed £3393 in expenses.

That’s a massive £17,393 for the year which is equivalent to £1,449 a month, £334 a week or nearly £1,500 a meeting.

Mr Monkey hasn’t been able to work out how this greedy bastard has the nerve to claim £282 in expenses for every meeting he’s attended, unless of course he travelled back from Edinburgh – where he was standing as a Tory candidate – at the taxpayers expense.

more on Iain Malcolm, the ballot rigging council leader will follow soon

Seems Mr Monkey’s revelations that the leader of the council, Iain Malcolm was the mastermind behind a plot to cheat a Conservative election candidate out of victory by rigging his 2000 local election result CLICK HERE has caused quite a stir.

Judging by the stats and comments, Mr Monkey reckons that the electorate are outraged by the antics of councillor Iain Malcolm and it appears that there’ll be some serious ramifications and political fallout for South Tyneside’s corrupt council leader – don’t rule out a custodial sentence.

Mr Monkey has not yet revealed the full extent of his investigation into councillor Iain Malcolm’s interpretation of democracy, but now that he’s back, you can be sure that he will.

So if you don’t want to miss out on further revelations about councillor Iain Malcolm’s fraudulent election activities, keep a close eye on Mr Monkey’s Blog over the next 48 hours.

Green light to shaft council employees

Last month Mr Monkey exclusively revealed that council staff were set to pay for parking CLICK HERE.

It’s now been confirmed that staff who are being transferred to Wouldhave House will have to pay for parking and they’re not happy about the prospect of having to pay for parking like the rest of us because they’ve got away with it for so long.

Angry staff claim they’re worried about car security and the possible negative impact of hundreds of staff trying to find spaces in the town centre, where parking is extremely limited, possibly forcing staff to use public transport while carrying out official duties.

Mr Monkey has no sympathy with any of them and here’s why:

• the borough’s car parks are amongst the safest in the country – that’s what councillor Clare the lead member with responsibility for car park claims.
• for years, the car parks have been labelled safe for the rest of us, so why the sudden concern? 
• car parks are regularly patrolled up until 11pm by the council’s enforcement contractor, Apcoa.
• what about all the empty spaces at the Customs House, Mill Dam and Mile End Rd car parks. The old Asda car park will also be open to the public.
• what’s wrong with using public transport, tens of thousands of people across the region rely on it everyday.
• ever thought of using pool cars for official duties?

Mr Monkey reckons that council staff have come up with some pretty shit excuses when it’s clear that all they’re really bothered about is the cost.

Perhaps staff should use some of the savings from thier new BT broadband package to pay for thier parking. Apparently council staff transferring to BT will get broadband for just £1 a month.

Mr Monkey would like to leave the last word to the Patron Slut of Sailors who said, “”I’m absolutely mystified as to where these council workers are going to park”.

Perhaps she and her stupid colleagues in the Labour party should have thought about this before signing on the dotted line and giving BT the green light to shaft council employees.

REVIEW 2008: The Fat Controller Claims £2251 To Ride The Train

This post appeared back in July and revealed that the King of Sleaze, Tory Boy David Potts set an all time record for his expense claims. The money grabbing bastard screwed more than £2250 out of the council tax payer for first class rail travel in a single year!

 

Home from Home!

In a week when MPs expense claims came under scrutiny The Monkey thought it would be an apt time to remind bloggers that South Tyneside’s own Tory Boy, Councillor David Potts still holds the record for a single year’s travel expense claim.

His record breaking claim of £2251.90 for the period April 2005 to March 2006, was largely due to the fact that he screwed the system was claiming first class rail travel to and from Cambridge University where he was partying studying.

Councillor Potts even had the cheek to try and justify his blatant abuse of the public purse. He said, “People who’ve been in touch with me care more about the policies I stand for than the way in which I travel.”

Wrong Councillor Potts people think you screwed the system for personal gain!

Heaven help the poor taxpayer if by some quirk of fate he manages to beat Alistair Darling in the forthcoming General Election. Imagine BA flights from Edinburgh to London, taxis, accommodation costs, secetarial support, office expenses, communication and second home allowances, subsistence and of course the infamous ‘John Lewis’ list.

The Monkey reckons Tory Boy Potts is expecting the tax payer to handover at least half a million pounds in expenses for his five year stint!

Bus Lane Blunder

Hot on the heels of the loading bay fuck up which resulted in the suspension of penalty charge notices being issued for vehicles illegally parked on loading bays, Mr Monkey has now learned that someone in the parking team is either colour blind or just couldn’t be bothered to check the small print.

Earlier this year the council’s agreed to introduce new measures to stop people using bus lanes – apparently to improve safety and keep vehicles moving – no, nothing to do with robbing the motorist blind.

These measure included taking photographs and recording the offenders on CCTV. This will be done by covert cameras installed on traffic lights, street lighting and CCTV columns. But the council also planned to introduce a secret weapon – a vehicle with a hidden camera.

Enforcement staff have been trained and the vehicle was delivered in time for the October launch but there was one minor problem – it was the wrong colour!

Apparently the vehicle that was delivered was black and was deemed unsuitable  too distinctive to be able to trap motorists effectively.

Somebody in the town hall decided that the vehicle should be white as this would blend in with the borough’s other white vehicles and would be less visible make more money.

Apparently the vehicle was duly dispatched for a respray and will be operational in the new year.

That’s assuming all the bus lanes are legally enforceable but more of this later.

Council Keeps My Change!

Mr Monkey is fed up with being ripped of by car park ticket machines that don’t give change.

Does South Tyneside Council, on whose behalf these machines collect money think that we wander around all day with pockets full of coins?

Mr Monkey reckons that the council deliberatley sets an obscure price that is not rounded up to a full pound and then configures the machines so that people will unwittingly pay more than they need to park because they will not get any change back – and it’s time something was done about it.

Imagine what would happen if you went to a supermarket and your bill comes to £77, you give them £80 and they keep the change, all hell would break loose.

This is just daylight robbery and it drives Mr Monkey mad. He’s fed up to the back teeth of the council robbing us blind and is determined that they should give him something back .. at least his change!