IF only five people vote in the Referendum on whether West Devon Borough Council should be run by a directly elected mayor and three of them say 'yes', we shall all be lumbered with a mayoral dictator on a very substantial salary.
I know that most people think the whole mayoral referendum is just a big yawn. That's the danger, because if that majority stays silent, the few hundred potty politicos who fancy their chances could easily 'win' the referendum, simply because everybody else didn't bother to vote.
One last point: if the result is 'yes' for an elected dictator (sorry, mayor), it's a one-way trip. There is no way to call for another referendum, to get rid of the mayoral dictatorship if we find we don't like elected dictators after all.
The message for your readers is simple. Abstentions don't count. Just say no.
Roger W Mathew
West Devon Borough Councillor