Profiling Community Councillors

Monday morning and a chance once again to browse Iain Bain’s editorial “The Usual Suspects” (February 21,2012). Iain Bain sees this phrase as “developing a certain amount of notoriety locally.” He sees the make-up of the usual suspects as something rather more fluid than this observer might: “It depends on who you think is in your circle , and who you think is outside – in or out of groups,” he suggests. Here we would think that the usual suspects comprise generally the community councillors and the NICE folk plus the Concerned Residents group and one or two others that gravitate along this axis of protest and debate. For some prominent individuals who have multiple memberships of those groups it is perhaps hard for the untrained observer to distinguish what hat they are wearing sometimes. However, it was revealing when Provost Laurie Fraser recently addressed Jeanne Tolmie at the event to celebrate her 34 years on River CC.He said; “We refer to you as the usual suspects, you refer to us as the guilty party.” He said it in good humour and it was received as such. Popular myth has the current usage of this phrase originating from Oor Sandy at a ward forum meeting in reference to some of the more vocal of his community council sparring partners at these events.

Iain Bain’s analysis last week looks too at recent consultation events and raises the concern that the usual suspects “may represent very particular points of view and by dint of assiduous attendance in lieu of others, their arguments assume undue importance.” This is a view held by some and it is painfully obvious unless those with alternative points of view in the community can find the common ground and means to express them then it will be those who are presently to the fore that will have first say in articulating their thoughts and it has to be said in recent years the usual suspects have generally served Nairn well.

It is with Iain’s profile of community Councils that perhaps a few eyebrows will perhaps be raised: “The usual suspects have sometimes been described as well-heeled, older and with plenty of time on their hands. We have certainly noted this and been disappointed ourselves that other aspects of local society tend not to be represented at meetings from community councils to consultation sessions.”

These observer would suggest that perhaps Iain is a little off-beam here, older maybe yes ok, and while the West CC might conform most to Iain’s template, within the new make-up of Suburban and River CCs there is a fair mix of the social strata.