Full Council

[Sibboleth]

This is the thread for general debates by all members of the council. In theory it only meets a few times each year. In practice, I'll probably keep it open most of the time, because, yeah.

Anyway.

[Sibboleth]

The outgoing Lord Mayor announces the Committee Chairmen for the year; evidently the two group leaders have decided not to bother with the formality of 'opposed' elections for the posts. Some MCP councillors don't look happy, but no one actually says anything. The Lord Mayor makes a speech, praising the city and the council a great deal, as is the custom. A vote is then held for his successor, but it's ritualistic; there is an agreement that the Mayorality will alternate between the parties, with the ruling party holding the post for two years out of three and the minority party holding it for the other. The new Lord Mayor will be veteran MCP councillor Sir Nigel Godwin. The new Deputy Mayor, and thus Lord Mayor next year, is Alfred Robson, the septuagenarian Chairman of the Arts & Leisure Committee and a former Mayor of Ardthorpe.

Lord Mayor Godwin: I call to order the first debate of this corporation year. It shall begin with questions about strategic policy. This will be addressed to Councillor Watson, in his capacity as leader of the majority party on this council.

[Frink]

Mr. Watson,

I would like to start by thanking you for joining us today.

My first question is a simple one: what is the current plan of action with regards to utilizing strategic policy for the development of this city and its resources?

[Sibboleth]

Councillor Watson: I understand that the City Engineer, Albert Lombardi, has been working hard on updating our City Development Plan along with Councillor Hockley and that that plan will be presented at the next meeting of the Public Works Committee. It will then be discussed, and voted on, by the General Purposes Committee who will, I hope, recommend it for a final debate and vote at the next meeting of the Full Council.

I think that we can all agree, irrespective of political differences, that it is time to change this city for the better. Our city has many challenges from the legacy of unrestricted capitalism in the nineteenth century to the patterns of industrial change and traffic problems that have emerged recently. This is a progressive city that looks in one direction only; forward. MCP and MSP administrations have understood this alike, and we are fortunate to have in Mr Lombardi a man as dedicated to progress and to the future of this city as any one amongst us here today.