At the recent AGM of the Kingston Association for the Blind, during the mayor's speech she made a statement about her refusal to sign the petition to prevent the premises of the Talking Newspaper being taken from them.

She maintained that she had decided during her term in office that she would not sign petitions.

May I say that in the 23 years that I have been a councillor, to my knowledge there has never been an occasion when a non-political petition has been signed by all members of all parties and the mayor has abstained.

I assess that I was the first to be put in the situation where all members signed.

When I approached the mayor, she simply said: "I don't think I want to sign that".

She then promptly turned her back on me and walked away.

I found her attitude most discourteous and I and other members were embarrassed.

If she had said (courteously) that she had made a commitment not to sign petitions I would have accepted that, but I found her whole attitude offhand.

However, to try to save grace, at the AGM of the association, she came up with a feeble excuse, but I feel that the members felt they had been let down by their president.

COUNCILLOR DAVID FRASER Old Malden Ward