Monday 22 December 2014

The 'New Deal' for St Helier


Last Wednesday I attended my first ever Parish Assembly election for the St Helier Roads Committee.

I had never been to a Roads Committee election before (last time round I was at university when it was going on) so I had no idea what to expect in terms of the process of the nominations and election.

For those that don't know, the Roads Committee is the closest thing we have to a "local council" in Jersey. It's a committee of elected members who serve in an honorary capacity (they don't get paid) for the Parish to consider things like licensing, al fresco applications, maintaining the roads and commenting on planning applications.

I was there to support my friend Malcolm Motie in his candidacy. He was not elected, but came within just a few votes.

Given how important Parish administration is (especially in St Helier), I found the whole process of this election to be completely inadequate and it has left me feeling that more than ever there needs to be reform.

In the week leading up to the election I had thought that perhaps some members of Reform Jersey or future prospective candidates for the States might want to consider standing to get some experience.

In looking for information about what being on the Roads Committee involves and how the nomination process works, I was able to find virtually no information about it at all. There was not a single document that described the nomination process, who is eligible to stand, what it involves doing, how much time it takes up etc. I also saw no media coverage at all to advertise this election.

In a Parish with around 20,000 voters, the number of voters in this election was 69. That's a turn out of 0.3%.

Now, this wouldn't necessarily be that much of a problem, but we have to understand that over the next year or two, things are going to change drastically for St Helier.

Shortly before the general election, Senator Philip Ozouf sent a letter to St Helier voters talking about a 'New Deal' for St Helier. Senator Ian Gorst also spoke of this 'New Deal' in his statement for election as Chief Minister.

The idea of this 'New Deal' is one that is built on the premise that St Helier currently gets a raw deal. The Parish is providing services that all Islanders benefit from, yet States buildings are exempt from paying Parish Rates, leaving it up to Parishioners and locally based businesses to foot the bill. This leaves St Helier short of £800,000 a year.

The aim of the 'New Deal' will be to make sure the Parish gets the extra funding it deserves, as well as actually giving more power to the Town Hall over planning, regeneration and amenities. This decentralisation would mean that services can be delivered at a level that is closer to the people and therefore (theoretically at least) more accountable and in touch so it can be better tailored to the desires of the local community.

I am personally very excited about this and am looking forward to doing what I (and Reform Jersey) can do to play a constructive role with the Council of Ministers and Parish of St Helier to end up with a settlement that that works for all parties.

However, having witnessed the Roads Committee election, I have become convinced that actually a simple transfer of powers and finance is not the only change we need to see. I think we need a radical solution that includes an overhaul of local Parish democracy in St Helier.

If the Parish is to get more powers and deal with greater amounts of money, those who serve in 'elected' positions must be able to be held to account by the public. This situation now where you can get elected onto the Roads Committee by simply turning up with a handful of mates to vote without any of the ordinary Parishioners even having the vaguest clue that the election is going on has got to be abolished.

If we are serious about local government working for the people, then the democratic system that governs it must be modernised.

I would propose that the Roads Committee and positions of Procureur du Bien Publique actually be abolished and replaced with a 'Parish Council'.

That council would be made up of elected Conseillers (got to keep it French!) which, depending on the number we decided to have, could either be elected by the whole Parish or in Parish wards (based on the Vingtaines). Those elections should be conducted in the same way our general elections are, with a set date on which a poll is held, several weeks after nominations are taken, instead of the ridiculous situation now where nominations are made and then the vote happens right away.

If those elections are taken seriously, we will get higher calibre people in those positions, who will have had to make an effort to become known by the community and be able to demonstrate to them what they are actually aiming to achieve if elected, and the public can either give them a mandate or show their disagreement with their policies by voting for someone else.

Those elected as Conseillers (who would serve in an honorary capacity) would then be able to form sub-committees, depending on what services the Parish would now be providing. The work currently done by the procureurs could be done by a Finance Committee, there could be a committee for the management of the parks, for the management of the retirement homes or nurseries or whatever.

On much of this we could take example from Douglas in the Isle of Man which appears to have a much wider remit than our Parish administration currently does and is able to be a voice for their capital in a way that currently St Helier lacks.


Any way, that's just my idea at the moment and I'm open to any discussions on it as a concept. It's a bold change I'm suggesting, and there will be many who will, as per usual in Jersey, sit back and claim everything is fine as it is and nothing needs to change. Those people need to wake up. Things aren't fine. My politics is about changing things to make them work better for the people.


But, in the meantime, Christmas beckons!

Merry Christmas and happy New Year to all my readers and supporters. What a year it has been! Here's to 2015 - the year everything starts to get better! (we can hope anyway...)

18 comments:

  1. Keep up the good work Mr Mezec because Jersey needs change (democracy) and Reform Jersey is the party who will bring it. Merry Christmas to you and your family. Speaking of family where does your wife work?

    Julie Sharrock Hanning.

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  2. You do a good post and then you allow a stupid comment attacking a poster from elsewhere.
    When are you ever going to grow up?

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    1. If the above comment is what you can't contain your indignation over, rather than what the comment refers to, then I think it's probably you who needs to grow up. Or maybe you have a vested interest?

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  3. Looks good Sam,bring it on.

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  4. I was castigated by a local blog and i'm that angry i take it out on the wrong people sometimes Sam. I'll try harder next year not to take it out on good politicians and child abuse victims. Happy Xmas.

    James Pearce.

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  5. As I was lucky enough to be re-elected on the basis of a manifesto that included municipal reform, I will continue to argue for an elected council that is better able to represent my constituents through clearer responsibilities and bye-law making powers for an "administration de proximité" that best serves the needs of our small capital.

    Many of the points you make are covered in the paper on municipal reform I prepared for the Roads Committee, and members of the municipality also benefited from a visit to Douglas to see how their Council works (and how different is the situation of how their Borough interacts with central government there).

    A major question is: even if we decide what we'd prefer, what could we get through the States in terms of the necessary legislation? All support from Saint Helier Deputies gratefully received!

    The States made the decisions: to split the Procuratorial elections from the Roads Committee elections; to make the Procuratorial elections a public election while leaving the members of the Roads Committees to be elected by an Assembly election; and then to split the Procuratorial elections. The Statesin its unwisdom decided that the best way to increase interest and accountabilty for States elections was to bring the elections together in a general election - but on the other hand to disperse the Parochial elections as widely as possible. The current system is one imposed by the States on the Parish of Saint Helier, and - as you rightly state - is unsustainable if the municipality is to receive the devolved powers needed to best serve our constituents, ratepayers and stakeholders.

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    1. Thanks Geraint and congratulations on your re-election. It was good to see you made the effort to try and get people aware that the election was going on by making the effort to put posters up. Hopefully under a newly revitilised system, the Parish elections can become a big event in the same way the general election is/ should be. Happy to work with you and other Roads Committee members towards that aim.

      I'd be interested to see that paper on minicipal reform if you have it to hand? My email is s.mezec@gov.je.

      I think we are lucky in St Helier in that many senior members of the Council of Ministers have now had to accept that St Helier is a special case, and what may be right for other Parishes falls short of what we are able to achieve in our capital, and that we need our own solution to provide a system that delivers effective services to residents and community support. Winning recognition for that idea has taken too long, but at least we can make progress next year.

      Bouan Noué et bouanne année!

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  6. And for your interest my wife doesn't work as HSBC.

    Steve Lewis.

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  7. St Brelade has the Prison, which all Islanders benefit from (although hopefully mostly indirectly). Not just St Helier has facilities for the general public. It also has a library for the West of the Island. And a fire substation. Lots of lighting along the promenade for tourists. etc

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    1. And St Saviour (where I live and grew up in) has most of the Island's schools and is the Parish that is second most disadvantaged by the States not paying rates. It's something like £200k a year we miss out on.

      I don't really see the "Conseil Municipal" model working in St Saviour because of how rural it is, but I think St Brelade could be a place where it may work, given the two urban and commercial areas of significance.

      That being said, I have no mandate to suggest things for the Parish of St Brelade, so that would be a matter to consider independently.

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  8. Have a happy new year Sam and try to use 2015 to make peace with people.

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  9. Thanks for all your hard work Sam in 2014. Views expressed using the internet have certainly shown up the main stream media and new young committed politicians with a brain like yourself can only be good for Jersey.

    Jersey's economic well being is now in the hands of 49 members of the States, the rest of the population have very little say.

    Some politicians would rather spend time traveling the world, doing the work of large multi billion pound banks and corporations and local quango's rather than taking on board islanders concerns and help with their problems.

    Times are a changing, and your time is coming, as islanders get poorer and the marches and popular resistance begins as is starting to happen.

    Your one of the best.

    Chatterbox, Bill1987, Graham73

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  10. Thank you for defending child abuse victims against convicted criminals who harass people on the phone and attack victims online at every opportunity. Happy New Year Deputy Mezec society and the states need more people like you and Reform Jersey.

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  11. Tonight I will mostly be chipping away at a crusty sock I keep under the bed so it is fresh for the start of the new year.

    JH.

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  12. No more comments tonight Jon.

    Make it your new years resolution to just give it a rest.

    Offer for a chat over coffee to talk about breaking this cycle still helps.

    Bouanne année.

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    1. I am not sure who you are talking to here but fair play for taking the attacks down.
      Just carry on with your politics and Heavy Metal young Mezec and try not to get too embroiled with everything that's online. Not everybody will ever agree with you, that's life.

      JSH

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  13. Sam.

    Preview of up-coming interview with US journalist Leah McGrath Goodman discussing Jersey Child Abuse INQUIRY.

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