I welcome Mark Flynn as leader of Dundee City Council and wish him every success.
I also send my respects to the departing John Alexander.
John will be missed as a cheerleader for Dundee, he did a good job of that.
Some of the things Mark said in his press release and a short interview since getting the job made an impression upon me.
This passage, especially, caught my eye: “I will stand up for our incredible city and its people at every opportunity, without fear or favour.”
I’ll remember this promise.
Because I like the idea of him “standing up” for the city “at every opportunity”.
I take it to mean he will “stand up” not just when good things happen, not just when he wishes to complain about Westminster.
When something goes wrong in Dundee he will, I trust, immediately “stand up” to make comment.
When questions need answered, he will “stand up”.
When information should flow from council to citizens, he won’t wait to be asked, he’ll “stand up”.
Here’s three tasks to “stand up” and face in your first week, Mark:
- Give a date for the Olympia inquiry
- Explain what’s happening with flood prevention measures at the new £100m school
- Set out your plan for cleaning up our “midden” city.
I was also impressed by Mark’s claim of an “abundance of talent” within his SNP group.
It is slightly surprising this “talent” hasn’t previously been more apparent.
It was almost like you weren’t allowed to talk to constituents on big issues in the town. Or were ordered to toe the party line at all times. Praise the cupcakes at coffee mornings – but say nothing else.
Please change that, Mark. Take the shackles off. Allow the “abundance of talent” to shine through.
Encourage your colleagues to speak as individuals, saying exactly what they think about things like the fire alarms scandal, roofing debacle, or turning music acts away from Slessor Gardens.
A good way to display talent would be explanation.
If a councillor’s job is to take decisions and vote on big issues, it is a reasonable request that they justify why they’ve done so.
Most of all I was impressed by Mark’s vow to stand up for Dundee “without fear or favour”.
No exceptions were given. No caveats.
Mark Flynn must speak up for Dundee
I take that to mean Mark will speak up “without fear or favour” against everyone, even if the SNP at Holyrood does something detrimental to Dundee – for instance, last year’s SNP/Tory carve-up on investment zone status.
A leader who puts his city first would complain – vehemently and publicly – to the Scottish Parliament for splurging £80m investment on Glasgow and Aberdeen but missing out Dundee.
I’m heartened you have indicated you will do that.
This new era of talent display, standing up to comment on difficult issues, and putting Dundee first, party second, will be great.
I’ll be watching closely and cheering you on, Mark.
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