Deal Mayor claimed and stashed thousands of £'s that could never be spent on what it was allocated for.

Mayor Marlene's Deal in Bloom budget  for this year is £4,000. (From FOI request dated this day)

£2,500 was bought forward from last year's budget and a further award of £1,500 was made this year.

The first question that springs to mind is why she was awarded money this year when she already had £2,500 left over from last year and this would have been more than enough to cover even her own over elaborate spending this year?

It is estimated that DTC spent around £80 each on each of the planters they were responsible for planting and they were not planted in time for the Jubilee which was the reason for the award. When applying for the award it was stated that Deal would be an array of Red, White & Blue flowers  for the special jubilee. On the Queens Jubilee the planters were empty.

Was this value for money?.

Volunteers have been allowed to take over the seafront planters (after much angst by some Councillors) and they have said the plants they used cost around £5 per planter but no expense was to the taxpayer.

Marlene would prefer to spend £80 on each despite them not being in place for the jubilee celebrations. WHY?

For many years Marlene Burnham has held on tight to the Deal In Bloom .  Volunteers have long offered to take over the roll of planting and maintaining the flowerbeds in the town. They have had to fight inch by inch. When the planters got planted without permission by 'Guerrilla Gardeners' the Mayor indicated that those responsible might be in trouble.

The Mayor also gave out hanging baskets in a bid to 'brighten up the town' These cost the council tax payer £990. I for one never noticed the brightening up of the town by randomly placed baskets, addresses of where they were given were not collected. I find this wrong as the 2009 auditor's report had already pulled Marlene up for not recording correctly and inappropriate spending.

Regardless of this, we can establish that around £1,400 was spent on flowers this year. So what is the other approx.  £2,600 for?

A further freedom of information request revealed that £500 was allocated out of the Deal in Bloom budget to finance a whim by Eileen Rowbotham which was to buy a lead lined time capsule to be kept in a cupboard in the town hall. Time capsules are not part of Deal in Bloom so why would the budget be allocated via the flower pot? As it happens the capsule has not yet been purchased and the accompanying drinks party has not occurred.

So Marlene, What is to be done with the thousands you have in excess?

Was Councillor Chris Tough also bullied by Deal Town Councillors???

Deal Town Councillor Chris Tough along with two others recently went to Portugal funded by Deal Council Tax Payers. The purpose for the visit seemed irrelevant enough as neither  Councillor Tough  nor Deal Council are in any way involved in Youth Unemployment. Regardless of this it appears Mr Tough was persuaded/pressured not to spend his own money by Deal council as it might make those unable to afford it feel uncomfortable!!! Did the pressure put on Councillor Tough to waste tax payers money amount to bullying?

Below is taken from Councillor Toughs facebook page and is a response about the question of needing funding for an EU funded event and how his going would benefit the youth of Deal.

The answer didn't fully do justice to the question so the local resident asked for further information.

Councillor Tough opened his facebook page in June

Cllr Chris Tough

14 June

Thought it time to have comments from the Mill Hill Community, how do they honestly perceive what I as a their representative be doing at the Town Council in viewing the Deal Town Council Web page week on week remembering I have my own career and sit as a representative on other local community groups for the Town Council and as member of different local groups.

He was asked for information about the trip twice more from someone in the Mill Hill community

'' Mill Hill Could you give more details on this please. First I would like to know what Deal Town Council has to do with youth unemployment and secondly, you said that it is funded by Europe but at a recent council meeting said £500 funds were allocated for this trip. Which version is correct?

Like · Reply · 1 · 25 September at 21:30''

Mill Hill Mill Hill I am still not sure what benefits there are from this meeting to the youth of Deal be it now or in the future. Perhaps you can expand a little on what you might learn whilst you are there and how you can then use this information in the future to benefit our town. Also I have read that 3 people are going to Portugal. Is the second conference you speak of in Portugal too? Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.
Like · Reply · 27 September at 16:59

 As of yet he has not replied.

Calls for the Resignation of Deal's Mayor Marlene Burnham

Currently the internet social network sites are buzzing with the resignation of the Town Clerk following abuses by Councillors.

Full details are not yet known.

However, a twitter post has implicated Mayor Marlene Burnham and her resignation has been called for along with other 'unnamed Councillors' 

The Dover Express also connected Marlene to the case in their publication today.

On facebook this evening, local residents have been asking Councillors what exactly is going on and who is involved. 

Marlene Burnham was implicated in the resignation of the previous town clerk who sought some £20,000 compensation according to this news report by 'This is Kent Publication in 2009.

http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/Deal-Town-Council-sued-20-000/story-12020967-detail/story.html#axzz2i0DATa4A

On 21 April 2009 This articles was published in the Kentish News which shows some of the ways that Marlene burnham had acted contrary to council poilcy & procedure.

Deal Town Council: how did it spend your money?

Tuesday, April 21, 2009
6:37 PM

 

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EXCLUSIVE by Marijke Cox  - Deal Town Council has been thrown into crisis by a damning report which looks set to see some elected members resign. There are 15 councillors on Deal council, which has been accused of failing to spend council taxpayers'money properly without proper regard for its responsibilities.All of the councillors criticised directly are members of the controlling Labour group and at least one member is accused of failing to declare an interest when placing contract work.Some of the allegations could result in a police inquiry and today (Tuesday), following the report's release, one councillor handed in her resignation.The council came under the spotlight in January after former deputy town clerk Stella Leitner, 35, filed for constructive dismissal on a number of grounds, including financial errors and breach of the Local Government Act.The investigation carried out by the East Kent Auditors Partnership (EKAP) has revealed discrepancies in how the authority has been run over recent years. EKAP concluded that Ms Leitner's letter of resignation stating major problems within the council was'factual'.The executive summary report, which runs to more than 50 pages, says that there are areas of concern'at Deal council and states poor governance can not be tolerated".The report, which runs to more than 50 pages, is understood to accuse the council of:• Non-compliance with contract standing orders• Non-compliance with employment law• Failure of members to declare an interest• Potential member code of conduct and standards issues• Failure to demonstrate value for moneyThe council and EKAP refused to release the report under the Freedom of Information Act, saying it was incomplete.Town Mayor Bill Gardner believed he was unable to make the report public as it might have prejudiced Mrs Leitner's case, which goes before the employment tribunal in October.But members of the community, including Tory parliamentary candidate for the area Charlie Elphicke, say he is wrong because, unlike a jury trial, employment tribunals can not be prejudiced.Mr Elphicke said: "A number of very serious allegations are made in the audit report about the conduct, procedures, probity and behaviour of the town council and councillors - not officers. "We have a right to know whether public money has been spent properly.'Despite the council stressing the need to keep the findings under wraps, a source close to the authority allowed this newspaper to see the shocking report.A number of councillors have been named, as well as town clerk Leslie Bulman, with some of the allegations relating to the way money has been handled.A simple example outlined is where Friends of North Deal offered to paint flower-planters on the seafront free of charge.They didn't do the work and Labour councillor Marlene Burnham's son invoiced the council for £150 instead.On another occasion Cllr Burnham agreed to pay a gardening firm in Sittingbourne £2,700 of council funds to assist with Deal in Bloom despite a limit of £2,000 on such expenditure unless the work was put up for tender by at least three other firms.Auditors revealed that Cllr Burnham omitted to find other quotes and was criticised for misuse of public money and failure to use local businesses. Cllr Sue Delling was also in the report for passing on a private and confidential grievance letter about town clerk Mr Bulman directly to him.The report also says she was also overheard making false accusations about the deputy town clerk with Cllr Burnham in the toilets, creating a negative effect on other members of staff.Cllr Delling refused to talk about her actions. She said: "We have all been advised to make no comment on the matter.'Town clerk Mr Bulman was also examined in the report for his action in employing two people to take over Mrs Leitner's position. It is understood that his pay increases by one per cent for every person employed.Town clerk Leslie Bulman said: 'I'm not able to make any comment on the document because the full council has not considered it yet.'One member, who refused to be named, said: "Members of the council are concerned because it is only a few that aren't doing things by the book - they don't want to be tarred with the same brush.'Today, Cllr Tracy Wilton, who is deputy mayor, and a Labour councillor for more than three years, handed her resignation to the mayor, Cllr Gardner.He said:'I am very sorry that the deputy mayor has resigned, but because of pressure of work and some illness over the last six months she has not felt that she has been fulfilling her job as councillor.'

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