NOTEBOOK BY BILL HEANEY
With voting tied at 18 to 18, it was reported that Mr Lynch drew a ten of spades, giving him the leadership after Mr Currie drew a six of hearts.
The role of provost was also decided using a cut of the cards, with Douglas Philand replacing Helensburgh Army veteran Maurice Corry in the role.
Ousted — Provost Maurice Corry and Council leader Robin Currie.
The council had been run by a coalition of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and independent councillors, known as The Argyll, Lomond and Islands Group.
But now the Strategic Opposition Partnership, which includes SNP, Labour and independent councillors, is said to have gained control.
This comes after the council had initially said it would increase council tax for residents in the area by 10 per cent in defiance of First Minister Humza Yousaf’s bid to freeze the charge across all of Scotland.
However the council has since reconsidered the matter – taken cold feet – and is now expected to back the freeze which will be implemented nationwide.
This will be the first time traditionally Tory Helensburgh has seen Labour in charge of local government affairs – albeit in a coalition – since the town came under Dumbarton District Council until 1996 when that authority folded.
Before that, Helensburgh had its own town council which met in its Sinclair Street offices, JP court and council chamber. It was also part of Dunbartonshire County Council which met at Garshake in Dumbarton, and which included in its membership real, true blue, bool in the mooth Tories such as Max Wilkinson and James McAusland, representing “landward” seats.
Their polished, public school accents were in contrast to the gruff, shipyard working class tones of Renton’s Communist members of the County Council, who were also members of Vale of Leven District Council – Willie “Bunger” Lamont and Duncan “Dunky” McGowan, who was a familiar sight on his bike in the village collecting life insurance money.
The County Council had been absorbed into Strathlyde Regional Council in 1974 and I was the first journalist to be assigned to cover it, which I did for a group of weekly newspapers plus a couple of nationals. It was probably the best and most effective council I have covered in my career, which now extends to around 60 years.
We now have Johnny come latelys from West Dunbartonshire Council deciding I am not qualified to cover their basket case council, which has caused so much opprobrium to be heaped on this long-suffering community.
Think “tolerance” of autistic children; think bullying; think victimisation; think ignoring public petitions to keep libraries open; think illegally sacking a doctor and again ignoring a public petition during the Covid pandemic. Think turning the street lights down during a campaign to keep women safe to walk home after dark …
None of these things by the way can be blamed on budget cuts. Not one of them. The money for the library was there, but they chose not to use it.
When Dumbarton District Council was wound up in February 1996, our esteemed local author, playwright and columnist Tom Gallacher wrote an article in the Lennox Herald which I will quote here to see them off the premises.
Tammany Hall in New York and the Burgh Hall in Dumbarton.
It illustrates clearly the fact that this community’s tolerance of incompetence in local government has been quite remarkable.
The only councillor from that time Tom Gallacher thought was worth his attendance allowance was “that incorrigible idealist” James Bollan of Renton.
Cllr Bollan’s valedictory message to the electorate was that “the new council would try harder than the old one to be a Socialist administration”.
Gallacher added: “In my opinion, Mr Bollan [pictured right] should be cherished as a community treasure. Soon he will be the only living Labour activist who actually remembers what socialism means.”
Tom then mentioned the Conservative Bill Morrison, of Helensburgh West, who cheered him up with a quotable quote. Bill, a war hero of some note, warned the new authority: “If you only do what you always did, you will only get what you always got.”
Typically, as those councillors engaged in an orgy of back-slapping, SNP SNP councillor Gordon Smillie, of Bonhill, “felt able to puncture the balloon of graceful good fellowsip among the dear departing”.
Tom added: “Mr Smillie conceded Dumbarton District Council had gained an unsavoury reputation in the past. I feel I must disagree with him.
“Not unsavoury surely. A reputation for incompetence – yes; for stupidity, petty mindedness, vindictiveness, carelessness and the inability to run a ‘menodge’ – Yes!”
I cannot say I disagree with anything Tom Gallacher had to say about the council. And I wouldn’t imagine the hundreds, yes, hundreds, of people who have written to social media over the past weeks to express similar views would disagree either.
What West Dunbartonshire really needs is new leadership. It requires the politics taken out of it and an end to councillors being whipped into voting in a way that has been agreed in private in a smoke-filled room.
They need to be reminded that it’s the Burgh Hall and not Tammany Hall that they have their meetings in and that this is the 21st century when democracy should be a given and not an aspiration for the people of West Dunbartonshire.
Top picture: Members of the limpalong Labour group who run West Dunbartonshire’s basket case council.