Following the recent furore regarding the departure and payoff of Mr Bryn Parry- Jones, the former CEO of Pembrokeshire County Council, it would be opportune to reflect on a few salient facts.

BPJ would not have survived anything like so long in this office had it not been for the continued and, some would say, biased and unfathomable support of Mr Adams and the IPPG.

Why has he continued this support for so long?

Where was it decreed in council rules that Mr Adams should negotiate a deal for BPJ in private?

There must be a point of law here.

Namely, that the manner of public money being siphoned off to cater for extraordinary expenditure such as this should be discussed in the presence of the said public.

The council discussion of October 16th was called in the most unseemly haste.

There was no way that the discussions leading up to the voting and the voting per se should have been held in private and the public presence excluded.

Either those that voted in favour of a payment to Mr BPJ did not have the time to canvass their public, or if they did, they chose to ignore their sentiments.

The best thing now that could happen to Pembrokeshire is for the council to be totally re-elected and its operating/ management structure totally revised.

There is an enormous amount of public ill-feeling towards the way BPJ has been seen to “get away with it” in spite of intervention from the Welsh Audit Office.

His record of tenure has hardly been covered in glory.

There is also a lot of public outrage at the way Haverfordwest has been left to dramatically decline over his reign.

Any re-election of the IPPG as a ”party” will be seen as a signal for “No Change” by the public.

However, BPJ could, even now, partly redeem himself from the ignominy he has attracted by forfeiting his payment altogether and donating it towards either: 1. The restoration of the Library to a building befitting our county town -– preferably in the town centre. The staff have been heroic in their efforts to continue serving the public in very trying circumstances.

2. He could make a donation to our wonderful Withybush Hospital. After all, both he and the council have been shamefully muted in their support for the hospital during all its recent tribulations.

3. Contribute towards making safe some of the dreadfully derelict properties scattered throughout Haverfordwest.

Is he likely to do any of this? That’s a question for us all.

Richard Davies

Haverfordwest