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| Photographed 07.02.2012 |
I suppose I shouldn't but each time I drive past the sign located next to the closed CLR/CLARO election campaign offices in Cabo Roig, Orihuela Costa, I find myself laughing.
It is the irony of the message, given to the electorate in the run up to the May 2011 elections and the current situation.
At the time of the birth of the CLR/CLARO coalition I expressed my opinion to Pedro Mancebo that I did not believe in it and that it would not be a long lasting partnership.
It was one of convenience, it was a contrived civil marriage, with the only common factor being that both party leaders would do anything to get elected. Certainly as individual parties their chances of obtaining a substantial increase in elected councillors was dubious. In the case of CLARO, they failed to get any Councillors in the 2007 elections and on their own 2011 would have seen the same result. Bob Houliston would not have got elected.
The first indications of a divorce began to show very shortly after the May 2011 elections when the fighting began in June, in the acrimonious war, sorry negotiations, for the allocation of responsibilities of Councillors amongst the three political groups who finally formed the current, insecure, tripartite government.
We have read the press release issued at the beginning of December 2011 by Pedro Mancebo, entitled “ The Municipal Group CLR-CLARO Expel Robert Houliston and Protect The Local Government” in which he confirmed: “the expulsion of Councillor Robert Houliston from the group in order to ensure the stability of the municipal government” along with the reasons behind the expulsion. Pedro went on to say “sadly Councillor Houliston has had a “go it alone policy“ from the beginning which would have been sufficient to agree his expulsion. He did not support his own municipal group, CLR-CLARO, in the negotiations with PSOE and LV to obtain the necessary competences and council departments within the government. He turned his back on them once he had secured his own position on the coast”.
As mentioned in my recent article the January issue of the CLARO Newsletter refers to the recent divorce between the CLR and CLARO: “the continuing differences within the government between the CLR party, our partner in the May election, and C.L.A.R.O. These differences which, for reasons of their perceived political advantage, have led our CLR partners over the past 5 months to seek to divide the management of the coast and to reduce the responsibilities or competences of the C.L.A.R.O Councillor for the Coast. The differences culminated in November in CLR attempts to divide the C.L.A.R.O party prior to our Annual General Meeting and their unilateral exclusion or expulsion of C.L.A.R.O from the joint government group in the council CLR-CLARO”.
It is obvious that current acrimony between the two parties is not a trial separation but a divorce and the decree nisi has been issued.
It's really not funny any more so let's hope the sign and its lie is removed without delay!
What if they cannot agree who is responsible for having it taken down. Will they leave it up and try a reconciliation in time for the 2015 elections or will Monica Lorente succeed as the temptress to Bob Houliston and get in between them for ever?
In my opinion (for whatever its worth), this Bob-guy has deceived all those people who voted for him!!. Many British voted for him because he made himself out as an "experienced diplomat"??
ReplyDeletebut if he really was one, then a REAL diplomat through experience would not behave/acted the way this Bob has done! In my working-life I have met-up with quite a few diplomats including the prime-minister of Thailand back in 1993, and all of those were really behaving like diplomats, unlike this Bob-fellow. Question....what are the duties of a diplomat??...Answer...he is supposed to look after his country-men in need of help (first and foremost), thereafter he has to follow-up on the promises made to those people as he represents those people of the country he works for!!..Can we say this of this Bob-guy??...NOPE!!!
You are totally right Elliot (once again, yes you warned me). This TOGETHER WE CAN sounds ridiculous now, but I honestly believed in it and still believe. It was TOGETHER as we defeated Monica Lorente and it was TOGETHER as we turned into a government. I made any possible effort to keep the alliance as a joint effort under the shared responsibilities of local government. I have tried to explain that being the councillor of the coast does not mean to have all the competences for the coast in any subject. There is a councillor for education, a councillor for infraestructures, a councillor for tourism, a councillor for health, environment, police, human resources, commerce, markets, parks and gardens... en they run these department for the whole of Orihuela including the coast. But Bob does not accept that. He wants to hold all these competences for the coast area. One single man to run a full Council for 30.000 residents and more than 300.000 tourists. That is a joke and a treachury to the promises made to our joint voters (YES joint voters of the coalition CLR-CLARO), as we promise that the Town Hall office in OC will have more than one councillor to work for the residents in OC. And the first thing Bob did after he took over as a councillor in the government team of the Psoe and Los Verdes was to try to avoid me to have an office room in the Playa Flamenca Town Hall as that would create a conflict about his authority in the coast. What? I warned Bob about the difficulties of managing the coast without obtaining the competences in regards to infraestructures, services, maintenance, public gardens, rubbish collection service, human resources, budget and treasury, commerce and trading licenses... he did not care as he was only focused in being "the" councillor of the coast. He left his coalition colleagues of CLR alone negotiating very hard for these important competences for the future of the coast and joined the PSOE and LOS VERDES starting government. He betrayed his partners in CLR and forgot about the TOGETHER WE CAN motto. An we kept respect for him then. But Bob Houliston turned into a pretended viceroy of Orihuela-Costa, not accepting that Orihuela is a whole and Orihuela Costa is a part of the full picture. He is in fact just a piece of the system, a member of the government tema, yes a team! But he does not want to play within the team and for the team, he does not want to be a member of it... He was to run his independant kingdom of Camelot, sitting in his round Claro table... Now he has been moaning about his lack of competences for 9 months... The truth is that he has made not one single proposal of development for the coast during this time. All what has been done has been proposed and developed by other councillors. But he has appeared in the pictures in the press. He is good at that. Recently he rejected the rubbish massively collected after the strike to be placed temporarily in a rustic plot of land until it was delivered to the dump, when asked by the councillor responsible for public cleaning: ok, where do you want it put? what you suggest? He simply said I do not know, you look for another place, you find a solution. Thats how he intends to govern. Dictating and imposing but not deciding, negotiating, working or making the effort to thing about the coast residents interest and future. He is a man stuck to his ego. And we will talk about the lie and fraud about the budget for the coast next.
ReplyDeleteBob Houliston is making people think that he is only asking for 2 million out of 63 for the coast and he is being denied that by the rest of councillors. For the coast? do you want to know how much is already allocated for the coast by the rest of councillors? Ok. About 4.5€ million a year in rubbish collection and public cleaning, 340.000€ in public transport, 120.00€ in direct tourism promotion, 50.000€ for local commerce, 347.000€ for firemen service, 80.000€ for environment direct policies, 120.000€ for kindergardens and nurseries, plus police service, emergencies center, beach services, public librery project, 150.000€ for parks and gardens refurbishment and development, 400.000€ for maintenance of public roads, gardens and 300.000€ for public lightning works, plus social services, local festivities and civil defense. Bob is playing against the public interest of the whole of Orihuela and is asking for 2 million € for new investments that the government does not have. We have the full 63 million € already compromised with current services and running contracts. We have 8 million € less than last year in incomes so no new investment can be made this year. And WE are not allocating money for the coast. When someone has no qualms to lie once and again to his voters and to everyone he cannot represent them at all, he cannot be called a representative of the citizens. Definitely now I am totally sure that we did the right thing by expelling him from the municipal group CLR-CLARO as with no doubt if we had not done it he would have supported a Mocion de Censura against the Mayor and helped Monica back to power. That is lust for power and the biggest treason to voters made by any politician ever in Orihuela. Big lies and biggest ego. That is what is in and out Bob Houliston capacity as a councillor. And this might sound strong but Im 40, Ive lived 40 years in the coast, in Orihuela, Im not someone that has decided recently to care about my neighbours, that’s why I cannot consent that Monica Lorente and Bob Houliston lie and make fools out of every single resident in Orihuela and Orihuela Costa. All of us know what the PP of Monica Lorente has made in the past, we all are aware of the corruption and the lack of adequate policies for Orihuela Costa and for the whole of Orihuela. And that is what Bob Houliston wants to bring back to power. I will not consent it. Do not doubt it.
ReplyDeleteSorry... I forgot about the main issue... I still believe that TOGETHER WE CAN... It is the only way to get out of the rubbish we were lead in... all together... Whoever wants to be alone should go home and leave politics for enthusiastic and capable people. It is not time to moan anymore, it is not time to complain anymore, it is not time to criticise anymore, it is not time to keep being sad losers. There is no space here for complainers and cry-babies. It is time to build our future, to create a better town, to imaging the environment preserved and protected, to manage public resources with honesty, to work for people with capacity and effort, to give adequate response to people's needs, to help people with less means, to ITS TIME TO START BELIEVING... AND TOGETHER WE CAN.
ReplyDeleteYou can check the proposals and activities developed by the councillor for the coast according to the official web of the Town Hall
ReplyDeletehttp://www.orihuela.es/concejalia/orihuela-costa/
And check e.g. the proposals and activities developed by e.g. the tourism department
http://www.orihuela.es/concejalia/turismo/
Or by the council department of infraestructures, services and maintenance
http://www.orihuela.es/concejalia/infraestructuras-urbanas/
http://www.orihuela.es/concejalia/contratacion/
There is a difference...
Thank you very much Pedro for taking the time to add your very detailed comment. It will be interesting to see if Bob Houliston reads this article and decides to add his point of view.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Roman, a neighbour in the area. I only know what I read and what I guess and it will make out my opinion, which could be wrong, but maybe it is right, although it does not matter because maybe there are plenty of truths and not a single lie. If we see a coin from 2 perpectives, we see different points of view and no one lies.
1.- All this money Mr Mancebo is talking about makes up 8 million and the budget is 60 million. And we are 1/3 of the population of the Orihuela so we should have more. And the truth is that we have less.
2.- Mr Mancebo talks about a project of a library. Orihuela has got one ( by the Spanish State) and there are out reach services in other areas but we have nothing like that in Orihuela Costa. We have the right to have an allocated amount of money for that. He says that there is a project. Could he explain more about it?
3.- There are 2 councillors who were not voted and one who was voted has no powers at all? There are plenty of people who were not voted and help the councillors and some with more power than Mr Houliston. Is it a lot asking for Mr Houliston to have some rights as to some decision about who works in the coast and who does not? And he presented to the elections in partnership with Mr Mancebo, not as a slave. Mr Mancebo and Mr Monserrate should understand this and fulfill the post of councillor of the coast with competences. To remove all his competences is wrong and I feel dissapointed about it. Would Mr Mancebo feel happy if evrything he asks for should go through Mr Houliston?
4.- Why so much effort in fighting each other and not in helping each other?
I do not want to start a war of words, but I feel people in OC should have more and I want to see action to make things better and the coalition to go ahead but if it means that we in the coast are treated as second class citizens, then I will understand if CLARO make a move.
roman
All I want to know is when will the secondary school be built???? I have lived here for 10 years and my children have never attended a brick built school. Their primary school years were at CP18 and the now attend IES Playa Flamenca. The aircon doesn´t work so they are cold in winter and very warm in summer and apparently the school has now been declared unfit for it´s purpose. The standard of teaching is very good even though my daughter hasn´t had a maths teacher for the past 2 weeks but the facilities are disgusting. When is something going to be sorted out????
ReplyDelete340,000€ for Public Transport ? If this is allocated (and I would be delighted if it was) we would have a full transport service operating in and around the urbanisations of Orihuela Costa. Where are the plans and/or proposals Sn. Mancebo ?
ReplyDeleteCertificates of Habitation (Cedulas) we were told by the last administration that this was virtually sorted out (in Alicante for signing) In 9 months -nothing. These are issues that could have been actioned without access to funds
We know that the previous administration left no budget, but the biggest disappointment is apparently little or no progress on 'easy' issues.
It took us over 20 years to get rid of PP 'PLEASE' lets have some action! I have no doubt PP are loving every minute of these internal wrangles.
We need (and I said this when the election was won) 1 (or a series) of Public Meetings when these issues can be addressed.
Dear Mrs Lawrie... thanks for your comment. I have to say that just the operating lines of public transport in OC cost more than 270.000€ a year, so adding the lines to Orihuela and back that makes the 340.000€ available. We would like to have more funds but unfortunately we hav not. In regards to Certificates of Habitation well, that is one of the exclusive competences that Bob Houliston holds for the coast so we wonder why this has not been addressed yet despite the fact that no funds are needed for that. Apparently he is more concerned about no other councillor being allowed to work in the coast for our residents than thinking of how to sort out easy issues. As I said Im profoundly dissapointed that despite the compromises we had to work together for the residents Bob is now developing an absolute mad campaign to discredit me in the coast with the intention to be the "only" councillor in OC, which I strongly believe is wrong after the long experience with the PP. Now everything that Bob is doing is intended to justify the agreement he already has with Monica Lorente and the PP. Bob Houliston wants the PP back to power because Monica has promised more power to him to satisfy his ego. Unbelievable. This is why we expelled him from the group CLR-CLARO in the town hall. He has failed to us as partners and mainly to the residents he should be working for instead of making excuses to justify his incompetence to run the town hall of OC just himself. As you said Mrs Lawrie, Bob has done nothing in 9 months in the coast apart of moaning and criticising his own government partners. Its enough. Sorry but that is not acceptable. The PP is provoking these internal wrangles by offering Bob 9 million Euros that we do not have this year. And now he wants Monica Lorente back. Ok we will sort out any problem no doubt. And I will keep all the promises given and proposals made to the residents in OC.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that the current lines (cost 270,000€) are not of more benefit to the Residents of OC. The service consisting of two minibuses running a route between Torrevieja Hospital and the Health Centre, cannot hope to be self financing because the routes are not what the public want or need. The only time the buses were full at any point were on Saturdays when they served Playa Flamenca Street Market. Yesterday we witnessed (about 10) people waiting at a bus stop at Los Altos waiting for a non existent bus to the market. My husband wrote a complete paper (with routes) for PSOE on Public Transport for OC - He was a Transport Professional in the UK. Extensive surveys discovered that people need regular direct transport to Torrevieja, Orihuela City and the airports. As residents it is not unusual to be asked to travel to Torrevieja, Alicante.or Orihuela for essential documentation, as ever we have to use our own cars or hire a taxi. With an ageing community it cannot be expected tat we will drive forever!! Additionally now we have one of the largest shopping centres in the area opening in La Zenia later this year with no public transport connections apparently proposed at all. This is a great opportunity to promote business and work opportunities. I am not finding fault, rather trying to suggest better ways that the budget (in Public transport) can be utilised. We have had active links with both PSOE and Los Verdes so were delighted with a coalition government, but worried about BH holding the 'balance of power'. In fact we have spent a lot of time in the past trying to warn PSOE that Bob Houliston would not 'go away' as they hoped - he was then and still is only interested in self promotion at any cost.
ReplyDeleteI would have thought that Certificates of Habitation could be taken away from Bob and handled by Antonia Moreno (Urbanism?) After all it was PSOE and Antonia that helped us before the last (unsuccessful) election.
If he, (Bob Houliston) is such a thorn in the coalition's side can he not just be removed from his position as Councillor for the Coast?
So that it can be seen that I have tried to get a balance of comments on this article, this is a copy of my email to Bob Houliston on the 19th February 2012 to make him aware of this article and comments that have been added.
ReplyDeleteDear Bob,
On Friday past (17th) I included you in a general circulated email mentioning my article on my weblog 'Together we can! - Oh Really!
Since then readers of it have added more comments. I believe it is my obligation to bring this to your attention in case you may wish to include comments of your own, thereby adding a degree of balance and fairness to the views expressed.
I will understand if you decide, as is your right, not to participate in the discussion.
Regards,
Elliot
Bob Houliston is again purposely misleading the people of Orihuela Costa to excuse his own lack of achievement. He is yet again blaming everybody in the government of which he supposedly is a part to cover his own lazy tail.
ReplyDeleteBaby Bob has cried for weeks now about his lack of budget to run the coast. He whiningly claims to have received only 2 million out of the 62 million budget that Orihuela has at its disposal for running the municipality.
This year 25 million will be paid out in staff salaries leaving 37 million to cover all the services in the whole municipality.
Of this remaining 37 million, Orihuela Costa will receive over 12 million, not 2 million as he has moaned to anyone who would listen. Orihuela Costa has 30% of the population and by my reckoning Orihuela Costa is going to receive more than 30% of the remaining 37 million budget after wages are paid.
These figures are a matter of public record and maybe some news reporter will publish these figures in their newspaper in an unbiased way.
The problem with baby Bob is that he is out of his depth in the town hall and has to cover his tail by blaming everybody except himself and Monica Lorente for his failure to achieve anything other than photo opportunities in the last nine months.
Now Bob, we are fed up with your cry baby excuses for not doing the work that we are paying you to do so now it is time for you to get out of the sulking corner and either work with your colleagues to get the work done or resign.
Bob, even in your resignation letter you are covering your tail but now at least the running of Orihuela Costa can be handled by someone who can do the job. I'm sure you will not stop moaning to the papers but at least you will not be at every event for the all important photo opportunity.
ReplyDeleteBob Houliston's achievements from Feb 2011 to Feb 2012
1) Formed an alliance with CLR
2) Stabbed the CLR leader in the back at the first opportunity
3) Accused CLR leader of cosying up to Monica Lorente
4) Wants to sit on all the council chairs at the same time
5) Makes overtures to Monica Lorents
6) Gets expelled from the CLR-CLARO electoral group
7) Whines about this competencies incessently
8) Attends every photo opportunity
9)Lies abour the budget
10) Resigns from a job he does not have the ability to do
11) Boasts at a CLARO meeting on the day he resigns that he will join Monica Lorente in government within a few months
What a legacy you have left the people of Orihuela Costa, You are the worst example of a politician I have ever seen.
With the resignation of Bob Houliston from his position as Councillor for the Coast and withdrawal from the tripartite government, he still remains at the moment an elected Councillor as I understand it. The war for control of Orihuela begins again. My attemp at satire 'CRAPPOL party inauguration' http://elliotsampford.blogspot.com/2012/02/crapplo-party-inauguration.html published yesterday wasn't that far out!
ReplyDeleteThis is the first few lines of Bob Houliston's resignation letter to the mayor sent out to all his supporters today.....
ReplyDelete"Dear Alcalde,
I regret to inform you of my decision to resign, as of today, from the municipal government of Orihuela and from my post as Councillor for the Coast, Beaches and International Residents
My decision has been caused by the present near paralysis of an important sector of the administration of the coast resulting from the sudden and abrupt transfer to Orihuela on 23 January, 2012 of the Resident Engineer. With this transfer, I have lost the services of a competent and very experienced officer."
That engineer is Rosa Garcia.
In recent months it has become clear that Bob Houliston was not up to the task of running the Playa Flamenca town hall. Although Bob blamed everybody especially Pedro Mancebo for his inability to perform, it is now clear that his own inabilities have led to his resignation from government.
One of Bob’s most recent gripes was that Rosa Garcia moved from the town hall in Playa Flamenca where she had worked for 12 years. What he did not say was that she requested to be moved back to Orihuela. She was a competent, experienced and valued member of staff but since the election she has been very stressed working under Bob Houliston and his side-kick Antonio Cerdan, who she felt did not know what they were doing, putting extra pressure and stress on her and the other staff in the town hall at Playa Flamenca.
Following a stress related illness that caused her to miss work for a month; she could not face working under the unprofessional leadership prevailing in Playa Flamenca town hall. She contacted the human resource department in Orihuela and requested to be moved from Playa Flamenca to Orihuela centre, her request was granted.
To avoid embarrassing Bob Houliston about public disclosure of his incompetence and lack of skill as councillor for the coast, another member of staff another member of staff took up the slack and kept the ball rolling and nothing was said to the media that might embarrass Mr. Houliston.
Unfortunately Bob Houliston believes that everybody is out to get him and take his toys (competencies and in this case staff) from him and in true paranoid fashion he has moaned about an ongoing conspiracy against him each week at his weekly media briefing. Instead of consulting with the other members of the government team that he belongs to, he yet again broke ranks, spoke out and this time shot himself in the foot.
Bob Houliston says he has a clear mandate from the 35,000 people living Orihuela Costa. He probably received 60% of the 1,383 votes cast on the coast for the CLR / CLARO alliance, this is not even enough to win one seat. So Bob Houliston got about 800 votes out of the coastal population of 35,000, hardly a mandate Mr. Houliston.
This Bob-fellow...( if he were a "diplomat", as he says he was in his working life)...should have known from the start, that a gouvernement, is a TEAM-effort, to together accomplish projects, for the benefit of ...not only O.C. but ALL of Oriuella!!!..He is not, and never has been the person to handle the problems of O.C. which were left behind by the previous corrupt governement (PP)>>>!!
DeleteHis job was clearly spelled out by Pedro Mancebo, in this blog as:.....
Pedro ManceboFeb 16, 2012 06:04 PM
You can check the proposals and activities developed by the councillor for the coast according to the official web of the Town Hall
http://www.orihuela.es/concejalia/orihuela-costa/
And check e.g. the proposals and activities developed by e.g. the tourism department
http://www.orihuela.es/concejalia/turismo/
Or by the council department of infraestructures, services and maintenance
http://www.orihuela.es/concejalia/infraestructuras-urbanas/
http://www.orihuela.es/concejalia/contratacion/
There is a difference...
This were the words of an EXPERIENCE politician!!!
Lets just hope that with this Bob-fellow's resignation...he now really is out of the picture, and will not do the damage to get "Lorente" back into power, as this would be a real disaster, not only for the O.C. but also for the city itself!!...I myself am not British...I am from Holland...but if this "Bob", was supposed to have represented the British on the O.C. ...then he has surely betrayed them and totally let them down, just because he wanted to be just a "Macho-figure"???
And this is one thing that I have never have expected from a guy, having worked for the "British Empire"!! (They are supposed to be "honourable men"??)
In the 14 years I have lived in and run businesses in Orihuela Costa there has been very little effort by the town hall to provide the coastal businesses and residents with the facilities or infrastructure that one would expect in a western European country. For this reason I campaigned shoulder to shoulder with Pedro Mancebo and Bob Houliston to try to change our future in Orihuela Costa for the better.
ReplyDeleteAfter the election last May I was filled with hope because we had a new government, our government. To my delight an Englishman received the honour of being appointed councillor for the coast. Since those early days of optimism, I and thousands like me have been bitterly disappointed at Mr. Houliston’s lack of courage and commitment by resigning his post before he achieved any of his party’s promises.
His widely publicised comments about his former political ally seemed to be incredible and it has drawn me to examine this so called demon more closely. Is this man Pedro Mancebo a liar and a cheat? Does he spend his time blocking progress? Is he out to line his pockets and do nothing to help the people of Orihuela Costa who voted for him? Does he break his promises?
From what I have seen with my own eyes, from what I have been told by those who have local businesses and from those who work in the community quite a different picture appears of Pedro Mancebo than what I read that the former councillor for the coast has widely publicised. Pedro Mancebo:
• Meets regularly with business associations, residents groups, parent’s associations, churches and community leaders.
• He is actively looking for a location for a new library
• He has instigated a plan to eradicate graffiti from our area
• He has kept his election manifesto promises by reducing town hall salaries and by making sure that there was more than one elected councillor operating in the Playa Flamenca town hall.
• Organise the best St. Patrick’s Day parade and other fiestas to promote tourism to our area.
• He has organised the beautifying of La Regia Park.
• He has organised the donation of 6,000 palm trees for public use.
• Is available day and evening to speak with people who need to meet with someone in authority.
• He works round the clock in our interest.
Raymond Kearney
President
Business Owners of Orihuela Costa
Bad Bob’s Bogey Boobs
ReplyDelete1. Parked constantly on a disabled ramp and pedestrian crossing outside the Playa Flamenca town hall …..on police instructions he claims????
2. Uses an illegal no parking sign on his house.
3. Did nothing in the town hall except force people to make appointments in writing.
4. Employs a helper who drives an uninsured English registered motorbike who then parks it on the footpath outside the Playa Flamenca town hall.
5. Watches on as someone very close to him receives a 70,000€ car as a gift from a company that does business with the town hall
6. When his friends ran a private drinking party attended by thousands of young teenagers in Campoamor in August 2011 he paid 500€ for a DJ when the going rate was 180€.
7. Joins an alliance with CLR purely to avoid compliance to an electoral 5% rule
8. Betrays his alliance leader by breaking ranks within weeks of being elected
9. Betrays the electorate by voting in favour of higher salaries for councillors and advisors despite his election manifesto declaring that he would reduce them.
10. In an effort to gain votes in the next election he protests loudly when other councillors came to the coast to work for the people of Orihuela Costa again despite his own election manifesto promising more councillors working on the coast
11. Works less than 20 hours a week for his 45,000€ salary
12. Appears for every photo opportunity but not the planning meetings or the work in progress.
13. Causes the Orihuela Costa engineer to request a move to Orihuela because she could not work with Bob or his inept sidekick and then publicly blames Pedro Mancebo which is a complete lie.
14. Tells the residents of Orihuela Costa that the budget for the coast is only 2 million euros where in actual fact it is almost 12 million euros plus wages.
15. Blames, moans, whinges and criticises his alliance leader at every opportunity to cover his own ineptness
16. Does not make any positive proposals other than having the posters temporarily removed from bridges only after many complaints over many months from the public.
17. During his 8 ½ months as councillor for the coast he did not offer any solutions to the problems of the coast, he knew the problems, but did nothing about them.
18. As an elected councillor who claims to love the coast, where was he on Tuesday 20th March when the coast almost collapsed under the floods? Nowhere to be seen, he wouldn’t even get himself wet!!!!!
19. Meets openly with PP’s corrupt Monica Lorente, whom in the past he never had a good word for due her blatant neglect of Orihuela Costa.
20. Resigns his position as councillor for the coast because he wasn’t competent enough for to do the job properly, however he blamed his resignation on the fact that he wouldn’t work with the other councillors in government. He now boasts he will be back soon as councillor for the coast, with the PP as his new masters.
21. After resigning his position he retains his councillor seat under the instruction from the PP. The honourable thing would be to let someone willing to work with the elected government use the seat but Monica needs the seat to bring her corrupt gang back to power.
22. Criticises the mayor for appointing three councillors to work on the coast after he resigned, maintaining that only he should have total control of the coast.
23. Openly declares his support for the PP and promises to support them if they support him in his aspirations for his position he covets so much.
24. Promises to vote against the government’s vital proposed loan repayment scheme which will cause chaos on the coast and cripple the government that he so willingly joined without the approval and backing of his political group.
Over a year ago CLR-CLARO became an electoral coalition and later a legal political group in the town hall. A short time after the election Mr. Houliston attempted to annul this “political marriage” to justify his adulterous relationship with the PP. The Central Electoral Board however flatly rejected his feeble attempt to desert his responsibilities. When Mr. Houliston’s extra marital antics with the PP became public knowledge, he was expelled from the CLR-CLARO political group. All loyal supporters of that political group may use the term, except of course the politically adulterous Mr. Houliston.
ReplyDeleteMr. Houliston claims that Pedro “undermined” this political marriage by non-cooperation whereas the evidences of his flirtations are there for all to see. Mr. Houliston did not work on or in the marriage and betrayed all who voted for CLR-CLARO. Pedro on the other hand has always been and is loyal and true to the promises he made and to the people who voted for him as the CLR-CLARO candidate for mayor. He still remains the spokesman and leader of the coalition and the political group in the town hall defending the rights and working for the people who made the change of government possible.
Last May 75% of the people of Orihuela Costa voted against the PP. Now Mr. Houliston has unilaterally decided to support and justify that same PP who neglected and plundered Orihuela Costa for 25 years against the democratically expressed wishes of the people he claims to represent. Mr. Houliston’s political adultery could not be worse.
I have defended Pedro Mancebo from the unwarranted and untrue allegations of Mr. Houliston in the media and at public meetings. Pedro refuses to get into a dog fight with Mr. Houliston firmly believing that actions speak louder than words and the public will make up their own minds on the matter.
Mr. Houliston refers to me as “Pedro’s personal apologist”, I have never made even one apology for Pedro nor do I need to. The only action for which Pedro should apologise is for trusting Mr. Houliston and believing in him to be an honest person who would keep his word, honour his commitments to the public and those who supported him. Mr. Houliston has let us all down but none more callously than the one who helped him the most – the man who got him elected councillor for the coast.
Raymond Kearney
CLR-CLARO