Rebel councillor resigns from committees

CONTROVERSIAL councillor Tom Reynolds has resigned from all committees of Frodsham Town Council of which he was a member.
He took the decision after promising a “radical re-thinking of how Frodsham should be managed” which he said he would be presenting to residents via social media.
In a letter to the town clerk he said: “As such, I think it is best that I resign from the Policy and Process committee, the Finance sub-committee and the Communities committee.”
Cllr Reynolds said he would be making the point to Frodsham residents that members of the Town Council had the opportunity to force a review of the precept – set at £59 for a Band D home – but decided not to.
He said: “I support cost-cutting change. This is a democracy. If my thinking is not what Frodsham residents want, I can be voted out at next year’s elections.”
Cllr Reynolds said the cornerstones of his thinking were:
1. Reduce the number of council committees to four
2. Separate the town clerk’s role from an administrative role.
3. To consider setting a £5,000 administration budget for each committee that they could not exceed.
4. Limiting council activity.
5. And to limit council reserves to £50,000
His target, he said, was to reduce the precept for a Band D property to £30 for 2019-20
Reducing the number of committees was, he said, just a reversal of the bureaucracy that had been created by the council and which had grown in recent years.
Last year’s St George’s Day parade, for instance, had cost Frodsham residents an estimated £5,000.
Cllr Reynolds knows what it is like to be a member of the council but not on any committees because he has twice been suspended from committee membership following council rows.
*The council has decided not to hold at St George’s Day parade this year.