Minutes – Annual Meeting of Council (Mayor Making) – 5 May 2021

The agenda and papers for this meeting are available here: Annual Meeting of Council – 5 May 2021 – agenda and papers

The minutes of this meeting are presented below.

You can also download a PDF copy of the minutes here: Minutes – Annual Meeting of Council (Mayor Making) – 5 May 2021

MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE VIRTUAL MEETING OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICHESTER HELD ON WEDNESDAY 5 MAY 2021 AT 2.00PM

PRESENT:

• The Mayor (Councillor Plowman), The Deputy Mayor (Councillor J Hughes), Councillors Apel, Barrie, Bell, Carter, Dignum, Gershater, Harry, Joy, C Hughes, K Hughes, Scicluna

APOLOGIES:

• Councillors Gaskin, Lishman and Sharp

IN ATTENDANCE:

• Town Clerk, Deputy Town Clerk, Property Manager, Mayor’s Chaplain, Mayoral/Administrative Assistant, Member Services Support Officer, Front of House Supervisor, Chairmen of West Sussex County Council and Chichester District Council, West Sussex County Councillor Jamie Fitzjohn, Mr John Coldstream (member of the public)

ABSENT:

Councillor Turbefield

The Mayor welcomed everyone to this “virtual” Annual Meeting of Council (Mayor Making).

1. ELECTION OF MAYOR 2021-2022

The Mayor, Councillor Richard Plowman, in the Chair for this item only.

It was moved by Councillor Bell and seconded by Councillor Scicluna and unanimously RESOLVED that Councillor John Hughes be and is hereby elected Mayor of the City until the date of the next Annual Meeting and that the allowance to be paid to him be at the rate of £4,000 per annum (exclusive of additional allowances already approved).

The new Mayoress, Councillor Cherry Hughes, invested the Mayor with his Badge and Chain of Office. The new Mayor, Councillor John Hughes invested the new Mayoress with her Badge and Chain.

3. DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE

Councillor J Hughes in the Chair.

Councillor J Hughes, having been invested with the Chain of Office, then made and subscribed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

Due to current restrictions/guidelines which prevent the Ceremony from being held in the Assembly Room, The Mayor’s Ring, Gold Snuff Box and Walking Stick will be presented at a later date.

4. APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY MAYOR 2021/2022

It was moved by Councillor Gershater, seconded by Councillor Plowman and unanimously RESOLVED the Councillor Joy be and is hereby appointed Deputy Mayor of the City until the date of the next Annual Meeting.

The Deputy Mayor’s Badge was presented to him by his son and for reasons previously stated, the Walking Stick would be presented to him at a later date.

5. APPOINTMENT OF BAILIFF 2021-2022

It was moved by Councillor C Hughes, seconded by Councillor Harry and unanimously RESOLVED that Councillor Gershater be appointed Bailiff of the City until the date of the next Annual Meeting.

The Bailiff’s Badge of Office was presented to him by his wife, Mrs Judith Gershater. For reasons previously stated, the Walking Stock would be presented to him at a later date.

6. MAYOR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Mayor informed Council that Canon David Nason would be the Mayor’s Chaplain until the date of he next Annual Meeting and that the Mayoral Charities for the year 2021/2022 would be the Chestnut Tree House Hospice (Chichester Branch) and Chichester Downs Syndrome Support Group.

The Mayor said that he, with the support of the Mayoress and the Deputy Mayor, would do his utmost to continue the good work that the retiring Mayor had achieved during this particularly challenging time.

7. VOTE OF THANKS TO THE RETIRING MAYOR

The Mayor proposed a vote of thanks to the retiring Mayor and paid tribute to all the good work that he had undertaken during this particularly difficult year.

Councillor Apel, referring back to March 2020 and the start of the Pandemic, said that this had been a particularly difficult and challenging year due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. She commended all the excellent work that the Mayor had undertaken on raising the profile of the City Council.

Councillor Apel referred to the Chichester Community Network (CNN) an organisation which had contributed so much to help to those less fortunate. She also mentioned the Mayor’s Hardship Fund which had been set up by the Mayor to provide financial help to those most in need. The fund continued to thrive and had been so gratefully received.

Councillor Apel commented on the Mayor’s Open letters which had lifted the spirits of the residents. She said that the Mayor had also managed to expedite the vaccination rollout for Chichester by campaigning and meeting with those organisations concerned. On behalf of the City Council, Councillor Apel expressed heartfelt thanks to the Mayor for everything he had done during this extremely difficult year and that the City was honoured and grateful.

Councillor Plowman thanked Councillor Apel for the kind words and was very humbled. He re-iterated that this was a team effort and that everyone had had to step up to the challenges of this extremely unprecedented year.

He said that working closely with the community had been a very humbling and rewarding time.

Technology had also proved invaluable in ensuring the smooth running of the City Council.

Councillor Plowman commented on the success of the CNN which he hoped would long continue.

He commented on some of the Mayoral engagements, most of which had been conducted virtually. Linking up with the community had been extremely worthwhile.

He thanked everyone for their help, in particular the Town Clerk and staff and he gave his best wishes for their Mayoral year to Councillors John and Cherry Hughes.

8. COMMON SEAL

RESOLVED that the Common Seal be affixed to any documents necessary to give effect to the resolutions passed at this meeting.

The meeting closed at 2.36pm.