Your stories and subsequent leader (Local councils and laws, TMID, 29 January), brought to the fore one major flaw in the way local councils are being administered – and this is that mayors think that they own the place.

This happens mostly in localities where the mayor has been in office for a long time. He or she thinks that, once the residents of the locality have entrusted him or her with the mayoralty for three or four terms, he or she can do what he or she likes.

The Nationalist Party is often accused of being arrogant because it has been in office for so long. Well, these mayors can also be said to be arrogant.

They simply do not take heed of what other councillors are suggesting or putting forward, let alone what the residents say. They are never available when one calls the council offices and, if approached on the road, they dismiss you as if you were a nobody – unless, of course, an election is around the corner.

Now that the government is planning a massive overhaul in local government, my suggestion is that mayors should not be allowed to stay on for more than two terms. It is only through such a measure that one can ensure that local councils can continue functioning to the best of their abilities.

Mark Vella

St Julian’s