One could think Councillor Peter Geiringer is trying to mislead your readers. In his letter printed on November 9, he refers to letters of complaint about the refuse collection system.

The letters were identical standard copied letters, with a line on which individuals signed their name. I assume they were produced by Coun Geiringer, who then asked people to sign them. I believe most people would describe this a circular letter, or perhaps a petition.

The letters were handed in to the council offices by Coun Geiringer. When he wrote his letter, 1,013 copies had been handed in. A further 1,000 were received on November 5. Coun Geiringer says the letters were filled in, in August.

The fact is three-quarters were not handed in to the council after it had decided to change the refuse collection arrangements on September 17. Half were handed in as much as two months after they had been signed.

The letters were addressed to me and requested my comments.

I wrote a reply to the individuals who had signed them, giving my response to the issues raised and explaining the decision of the council.

I believe the people who put their names to these letters wanted a response and to know action was being taken which would address their concerns.

I responded to all these letters as quickly and openly as I could. To suggest this is a cover up is clearly absurd.

COUNCILLOR MIKE

COOPER

Leader of the Council

November 23, 2001 10:30