SHOULD York have an elected mayor? (March 7) Yes. Let the people decide.

Thank you for starting the debate, long overdue. Local government is at an all-time low, the cabinet system in its present form is not working.

I believe it's time that all the citizens had the right to vote for the leader of the council and if he fails have the right to kick him or her out. All the voters in the greater York area would feel they are part of what goes on in the city.

The executive to the outsider seems to have turned into petty bureaucrats and the position of the Lord Mayor has been diminished over the last ten years. Ambassadorial role - whatever is that supposed to mean?

Give democracy a chance. If Coun David Wilde can vote for the leader why not the rest of the York citizens?

Hon Alderman Reg Pulleyn,

Ex Lord Mayor 1988-89,

Tang Hall Lane, York.

...TO elect, or not to elect? That is the question, one which at this time I have no wish to address, beyond making the point that the cost of running an election campaign could well be beyond the means of most people, and would therefore have to be based on party political support. This would remove the 'independence' held before us.

My main concern is the status of the Right Honourable Lord Mayor and his Sheriff. These are both ancient offices which have served this city well. Both the Evening Press editorial and Peter Vaughan in his reasoned article say the status of the Lord Mayor need not be affected, Coun Vaughan citing the situation in the City of London. This is ingenuous, since the City, with its immensely wealthy Livery Companies and its autonomous common council, bears no comparison with York.

I wonder how long it would be before someone would ask - since we have an elected mayor, do we need a Lord Mayor? Should we not consign the robes and regalia to a museum? I would need more than a politician's guarantee. I would wish to see the retention of the existing Mayoralty and Shrievelty enshrined in whatever constitution creates an elected mayor.

P J Bowman,

Ogleforth, York.

Updated: 10:41 Tuesday, March 12, 2002