Its Enough to Make a Man Cry
| Published: 4th August 2008 01:12 |
Town crier Jim Shrubb has been left feeling miserable after his decision to fill one of the vacant town council spots, looks set to hurt his livelihood.
For the last 7 year Mr Shrubb has been a regular attendee at events such as the town's annual Christmas lights ceremony and the Billericay in Bloom prize giving, but now his £75 charge for attending, could lead to his sacking from the council, because other councillors give their professional services to the council free of charge.
Jim explained "I need to do those things to live - it is all I do. When I became a councillor it was discussed that I was the town crier but it didn't really seem like an issue so I went ahead with it. In any case I only charge them about 25 per cent of my usual fee so I don't know who they are going to tender to for it to be cheaper. I have to charge for my costs, things like travel and my costumes. I'm upset it has come to this."
"could set a precedent"
Speaking of the situation, Town Council leader, Peter Bowditch, said "This could set a precedent for councillors to charge for services in future years". Fellow councillor Edgar Guest agreed, but made the point that there was no legally binding reason to stop Mr Shrubb earning money from the council.
