Ward 73 crack-up

Ward 73 is under siege as three committee members throw in the towel.

Councillor Marcelle Ravid and her committee members are at loggerheads after three members resigned last week.

One of the members who resigned is Roger Chadwick, chairman of Orange Grove Residents Association and he said, “The obvious neglect afforded to Orange Grove and allied suburbs by the Ward 73 councillor Ravid led to the resignation of three ward committee members.

“It shows a lack of understanding for the diverse issues and interactions that constitute our multi-cultural suburb. The usually brief and intermittent responses from our ward councillor to our concerns, along with her lack of understanding of our issues have created a stumbling block to our interaction with her as a community.

“The delay in responding to emails (minimal responses, at best) attests to an apparent inability to attend to vital issues in our suburbs. Effective communication is not our ward councillor’s strong point.”

The portfolios that were affected were health and social development, which was deserted by Eddie Ash; public safety which was led by Audrey Darrington; and art, culture and heritage which was under Chadwick. Chadwick added that the reason behind their resignations was that the committee achieved nothing. He said, “I cannot comment on her lack of motivation, [and] most residents who have had dealings with her will understand our point of view. She was content to let us do all the dirty work while she would grab the occasional kudos for doing nothing.”

Meanwhile, Ravid said ward committee members were mandated to assist the councillor. She said she had many years of experience as a ward councillor, and previously chaired two successful ward committees.

“It is clear that these members preferred to sabotage the committee instead of assisting,”she said.

“When recently, unsubstantiated allegations were made against another member of the committee and the tone became racially charged, I had to resolve the meeting in order to protect members.

“When the accuser refused to take responsibility and apologise for this behaviour, and continued to disrupt the following meeting… in an attempt to alter the minutes to his satisfaction, it was clear that the committee would not be able to function optimally for the benefit of the community.”

She added that the resignation of these members would help the committee to ‘regroup and resume its true responsibilities to residents’.