Can PCC not communicate himself?

We elected a PCC, not a department, and I hope he informs all candidates that the role may only be temporary, because if he is not re-elected these jobs will be made redundant. Overall the department he has created must now be costing over £300k per annum at a time when everything else is being cut back. We should not be surprised.

I suppose that once you have read this diatribe you may well consider that he needs some help with his communication skills, that being the case, then both he and the rest of us must question his suitability for the post. In this piece we are told on no less than five occasions the post is for an ‘Engagement and Communications Lead’, a spin doctor to you and I.

As we are all well aware a spin doctor is a person whose job involves trying to control the way important events are described to the public from a particular point of view in order to influence what people think about it.

You might imagine that this should not be necessary for a PCC, however those of us familiar with the individual concerned, could not fail to be surprised by any event Mr Wright might be involved with that requires a positive spin.

Further into the article we are treated to a wider job description, and I quote ‘it requires the individual to bring together two teams and manage them in conjunction with each other, using different skills to deliver the same key priorities’. What skills, what priorities? Please elucidate further just what the hell that means.

My reason for this comment is that during the by-election in Rawmarsh last year; when his wife the Labour candidate was defeated, our PCC found plenty of time from his duties to go out leafleting and campaigning on her behalf.

Finally we learn that this remarkable person should have at least five years' experience in such a role and be educated to degree level. One imagines that our PCC is educated to at least a similar level? If not, the next time the post is up for re-election perhaps it should be clear that graduates only need apply.

In these times of financial austerity, if Mr Wright were truly concerned and dedicated to public service, you feel he might at the very least find the time to write his own communications?

Allen Cowles, Whiston