New council chief won't take post until new year
NEW city council chief executive John van de Laarschot will not be allowed to take up his post full-time until after Christmas.
Officials at Mr van de Laarschot's current employer, Torridge District Council, are determined to keep their man as long as possible.
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John van de Laarschot
Mr van de Laarschot is currently using his holiday entitlement to spend two days a week in Stoke-on-Trent because of a power vacuum at the civic centre.
But Torridge councillors are meeting tonight to try to better resolve the situation.
It is understood they are willing to let him spend up to two days a week in Stoke-on-Trent, but it is likely that will cost the city council.
It comes as the city council could have to pay-off its absent acting chief executive, Chris Harman, and has revealed plans to make up to 430 redundancies to save £12 million.
The continued absence of Mr Harman, coupled with the departure of interim assistant chief executive Mike Maunder, has left the authority grappling with no clear chief officer.
Mr Harman has been on sick leave since September 30, the day after he missed out on the £195,000-a-year job, and Mr Maunder left the previous day when his temporary contract expired. Since then, urgent managerial decisions have been taken by the council's director of regeneration, Tom Macartney, in consultation with Mr van de Laarschot.
Torridge District Council leader James Morrish told The Sentinel: "There has been speculation that we will let John leave Torridge early to deal with the problems which have arisen in Stoke-on-Trent, but that is not the case.
"I will put an option to members tonight to consider whether to release him for a day or two each week, but that is all we are likely to offer.
"I am expecting a formal request from Stoke-on-Trent City Council to release him any day now, but there is no way at all that John will be leaving Torridge before Christmas.
"I am doing everything I can to support him, but my first priority has to be my duty to the people of Torridge."
Mr Morrish believes Mr van de Laarschot can handle the challenges facing him in Stoke-on-Trent.
He said: "He has told me that he thinks the job will probably be an even bigger challenge than he first thought.
"But John is not afraid of a challenge and I know he will do a great job of turning things around up there."
City Independent Councillor John Davis is disappointed that Mr van de Laarschot will not be moving to Glebe Street before the New Year.
But he feels the council will cope with the situation.
He said: "It would be better for the city if he could start here earlier, and I think he has been very good to come up here in his own time to help out since he was appointed.
"But we have some good officers and the cabinet is in place, so we are certainly not rudderless."
He added: "Our main priority is to keep front-line services running efficiently, and we are doing that."
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by R H Hicks, Bideford,Devon
Wednesday, October 21 2009, 10:07AM
“As Chair of the Policy Performance andResources Committee,Torridge District Council I can confirm That John Van DE Laarschott is a Brilliant man who has singlehandedly turned us from the third worst council in the country to halfway between Good and Excellent. We do not want to lose him. Our loss is Stokes gain.
We have reluctantly agreed to him doing 2 days per week immediatly and I am sure that Stoke will immediately see the benefits,provided that the staff realise that what he does is for their benefit as well asthat of the Council Tax Payer.
Good luck”
by Chris Cooper, Newcastle
Tuesday, October 20 2009, 10:04AM
“"And they peeled them", and we watched, and we are still laughing that tinny sound echoing around, and the band struck up the Potteries new Anthem, "here we go round the Mulberry Bush", and yonder a splinter group were singing "here we go, here we go", someone called Alice with a Rat by her side was speaking from a stage in Kingsway.
Welcome to the Fantasy Theme Park known as Stoke on Trent, Look there goes a Weasel in a top hat shouting "Pay me of !!! Pay me Off!!" A bloke in a black robe and scythe to hand chasing him around and around, "get him Ross" the crowd wailed. And arriving on a wave of mispent youth, optimism and bare faced bravado comes the "saviour" on a surf board crafted fom fifty pound notes. The crowd parts as this Adonis alights, and strolls macho style into the Civic Centre, there to drown in the continuing whirlpool of mediocrity and cynical greed, afinal backward glance to the throngs of the local peasants, cant tell whether they are waving or just pleading, well some have hands together looking heaven wards and some just have pottery bowls, any way the glance was more a smirk, no a grimace, definitely a distinct dyssentry laden grimace,
Stoke on Trent is open 7 days a week, and its all free to visitors from outside the City, ignore the big white balloons, they`re for the small numbers that attempt to exit.
This is`nt real, but it could be........ "who loves ya Stoke"”
by Warren, Meir
Tuesday, October 20 2009, 8:08AM
“Leaderlass untill the new year, I think that proves we don't need a leader, even more so one that costs £195k a year.”
by andrew, weston coyney
Monday, October 19 2009, 4:50PM
“The pantomime season has started early.”
by JOHN, milton
Monday, October 19 2009, 4:17PM
“so one is off sick on full pay and wants a pay off the other cant start untl next year so who is doing the job right now?,,, no body so do we need anyone to do this job seems not ....with a little bit of luck micky mouse is free untill next year as its his family running this city....
sorry did i say running the city .....”