UNWARRANTED ATTACK

Chronicle (Levin), 22 April 1949, Page 4

UNWARRANTED ATTACK

Mayor Replies To Remarks Of Mr. A. W. Parton Remarks which it was asserted badlbeen made by a munieipal byelection. candidate, Mr. A. w." hafton, ' concerning the Mayor of . Levin, Mr. H. B^Burdekin, and cer^ajn matters in regard to the adrninistration 6f the borough, drew ira at Wednesday night's "meeting of the Levin Borougtr council.. . Prefacing a public statement by the - remarks that this was the firs.t occasion on which he had been eompelled to such action, but "that he would not have the honour of the Maybr and council • impugned, Mr. Burdekin. condnued as fp, owp: . "It is with considerable egret that t hnd myself eompelled to make a public 'statement this evening in answer to the femarks made by one of the candidates, Mr. Pgirfon, From sta laments that have been reliably attributed to him, both in the columns of the Pi'ess and by him personally, at his meeting on Tuesday evening, it appears that he purposely declined to attend and speak at the public meeting at which I presided, and to which he had- been invited, and to which he had accepted an invitation in the first place, so that he cou d atfack me behind my back. rhis he appears to have done to some purptse, both from the report that has reached me from one who attended *-he meeting and aiso from the Press report for the meeting, although in the latter case the Press appear to have" used their usual wise discretibn ahd some of the most offensive statements made hgve not been published. IJow Price Was Fixed. • , "Of the one that is reportedl Concerning the price expected to be ■realised by the sections to be offer-: ed for sale in Playford Park suhdivision, Mr. Parton is reported to have said that because I had stated that it was expected that the sections WOU.ld realise approximately £230 each, that it was 'hoodwinking and npt quite straight.' The figure of £230 mentioned by me was i.he price supplied by the borough solicitors as the price they recommended shou d be placed before the land valuation court for aoproval, as being a fair price, which it is anticipated would be approved. This surely savours neither of 'hoodwinking' or 'hot being straighl.' It Pmight interest Mr. Parton to know thgt. solicitors and land agents,- acting on behalf of •prospecfcive pu'rchasers of' ,these Sjgptions, have already peiicillefd in . 'm'bre than half of the availahle •sections andr they-..arer,nat on -the market yet. hu~ \. ; ;connection . with the statemehts' made 'regafding Arbor'lDay planting and a deputati'ori to ' the council by 'the boys' . band, -these ■ar-e "both mntrue : and . mischievous, It. is beyond my comprehension why Mr. Parton has attacked me in this manner? as . it . ha^ nothing whatever to do with his candidature for a seat on.the council, and 1 ihi.makirig these statements he has ; also attacked each individukl- member of the council as Well. I cali • upon Mr. Pafton to withdraw these ; statements- publiely.-'- - Couneillors Annoyed.

The council s reactions xo Mr. Parton's alleged attack on the Mayor and council were as follows: Cr. R. A. Frederikson: It was a subject which he raised with diffidenee, but he felt that the reckless statements made by Mr. Parton should be contradicfed. Mr. Parton had staled that Playford Park contro1 had been thrown to the Government to do what it Jiked with it, That was not so, In regard to allegations concerning the drainage scheme, the council had moved along as quickly as possible in v'-dw of oresent day conditions- He resented remarks by Mr. Parton that Levin had a one man council. "I have always been able o vote my way here and there is no suggestion of a 'dietatorship.' To say so would be a slander on the Mayor. who has done such good ,work for the town. A good deal has been made of 'Star Chamber' methods. I wou'd not tolerate go- . ing into committee unless it was essential." The boys' band had applied for permission to ch'arge admittance to a concert on "a Sunday. It was the council as a whole which had said no, not the Mayor. A sta'ement was made that the Arbor Day observance was cancelled because the Mayor did not like hydrangea cuttings. Bad weather alone was the cause. He considered that slights had been cast on the Mayor and council. Cr. J. Miller: He heartily endorsed the remarks of the previous speaker. In regard to the question of being called "yes" men, all he could say was that it was hard to say "no" to a person when he was nearly always. right. It was ridiculous to refer to the council in such terms, however, and he resented the remark. The council always voted as a council and not one man, A lot of people seemed to hink that the council was compos'ed of a "lot of nitwits and a butt for jokes." He would like to see more of the public in attendance at council meetings, occupying the seat provided in the Council Chamber, so that they would see whai went on and the large amount of work put through during an evening. Ct. D. J. Sweetzer: Mr. Parton's me'hod of e1eetioneering savoured of tactics which no one in the council would adopt. The meeting Mr. Burdekin had chaired was not convened by him and thus Mr, Parton's, attack on him was not fair, The Mavor was not standing in the by-election. Cr. C. H. Nelson: A lot had been said about the council not wanting industry. He did not know where such talk came from, but someIthing shpuld be done about it. Th# council Would Welcome industries.