1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136 
Resignation accepted permission to speak refused
Page 48
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
By ERIC WILLOUGHBY
THE resignation of Mr. Norman Morton, transport manager of Sunderland Corporation, was accepted at a special meeting of the transport committee by 14 votes to 11, on Thursday of last week. It was also decided that he would be relieved of his duties from Friday evening, and that Mr. Alan Wright, his deputy, would take over until a new manager is appointed. At the meeting, Mr. Morton requested permission to make a five-minute " n on-c ont rove rsial" statement; his request was refused.
A letter to the committee signed by 42 administrative employees of the department said: "We regret to hear of the surprise resignation of our general manager and would like to place on record the fact that we have been privileged to work under a man of such ability and integrity, and earnestly hope that some satisfactory solution may be found that will enable him to continue as general manager".
A sub-committee has been set up to appoint a new general manager from a short list of three.
Chairman of the transport committee Aid. Spain told me on Friday that no hasty measures were to be taken regarding the fares structure, but that a careful watch would be put on the revenue within the next few months before anything was decided.
Also, the committee would be asking the council for £50,000 from the rates in addition to any deficit that might stand at the end of the current financial year.
As reported in CM last week, Mr. Morton resigned because he disagrees with the transport committee's decision to drop the flat-fare system being pioneered in Sunderland.