To see Glen Innes Severn Councillor Steve Toms publicly besmirch four of his colleagues as 'self-indulgent' in a long letter of self aggrandisement (Glen Innes Examiner, October 3)  is but one such instance.

For Councillor Toms to then insinuate a 'motivation for disruption' in the very next sentence is another instance of those three fingers pointing back.

By his own words, Councillor Toms' letter is sufficient to do away with the self-serving myth he has long promulgated, that so-called 'independent' Councillors are somehow above politics, or free of agendas of their own.

For Councillor Toms' assertions of the supposed peril that arises from a Councillor holding declared party membership exist only in his head, and nowhere else.

All around NSW and Australia one can readily find dozens if not hundreds of local councillors with declared party allegiance who deliver faithful and sound service to the communities that elected them.

Yet despite this empirical fact, Councillor Toms insists on talking down to them and his colleagues from the very great height that he bestows upon himself through his 'independent' status.

I believe that over the remaining two years of this Council, the Glen Innes Severn community will be more than capable of assessing the individual and collective worth of Councillors' contributions on their own merits, without the need for a running commentary fuelled by myths and insinuations.

That is no less than any of them need or deserve, and it's what Australians used to call a 'fair go'.

Yours sincerely,

Mercurius Goldstein

New England Greens, (Glen Innes Region)