YOU know, if you do your research, you will find that there was a certain on-line newspaper that, in May 2011, described cllr Aaron Kiely as a breath of fresh air (Erm–I think that was us-Ed),
Four years later, an empty chair in his last Thurrock Council meeting marked what could have been his final appearance as councillor for Ockendon.
Thurrock Conservative leader, cllr Rob Gledhill, was charged with the valedictory speeches for the four departing councillors.
Naturally, he was effusive in his praise for the two Conservative councillors: Maureen Pearce and Simon Wootton. Both have been model councillors. We have seen Maureen trudging the streets of Aveley, handing out leaflets. Simon Wootton is a model Conservative and they will miss him (and may want to reflect why he really left).
Cllr Gledhill was also very kind in his praise for departing Labour councillor, Val Morris-Cook. Val had done her time and is keen to dedicate herself to her job.
In previous years, Val would spend all day on site in her job with Wincanton and then rush to a council meeting, as deputy leader, and use her consummate political skills for the better of the borough.
However, when it came to cllr Kiely, cllr Gledhill showed how well he was brought up.
He said: "My mother always taught me: If you can;t say anything nice about someone, then say nothing at all………"
However, it cannot go un-noticed that over £32,000 of taxpayers money went into cllr Kiely’s bank account despite his pitiful attendance at meetings and his lack of effort in addressing the needs of the people in the ward of Ockendon.
The capacity for self refection or self doubt may not be in the psychological make up of cllr Kiely. We are sure that his supporters, acolytes, fellow travellers, if they stumble across this article, will question whether Aaron should answer for his actions.
We are sure that he will make a niche for himself defending the rights of oppressed people of El Salvador or whichever cause looks snazzy on a t shirt this week.
But, what have we learned? Let us focus on the positive: No, not all politicians are the same…..At all levels, from parish council to prime minister, there are hard working, well meaning, self effacing men and women, keen to serve their communities….
As they say in radio land, Aaron, this one’s for you..
PS..What happened to that inquiry?
