MINEHEAD Mayor Cllr Nick Messarra is to face questions over an alleged overspend of his civic allowance. Fellow town councillors are also expected to raise concern over a decision to use public money to help pay for a new Regal Theatre noticeboard in Wellington Square, which bears the inscription that it was donated by Cllr Messarra in partnership with West Somerset District Council. Cllr Messarra, whose one-year term of office ends in May, was given a £900 hospitality budget at the start of his mayorship. Figures circulated to councillors show that in August he spent £300 on a visit by a group of Lithuanian dancers and two months later a further £200 on a donation to the West Somerset Community Group. But the most controversial cash outlay was £804 on the Wellington Square sign, taking the total spend to a budget busting £1,304. Councillors, who are due to raise the issue at a meeting on Wednesday, say the mayoral allowance should be used for hospitality purposes only. And although no-one is apparently denying that budgets have been exceeded on occasions by previous mayors, any overspend has always been sanctioned by the council. Some members are also unhappy about the wording on the sign which, although it features the town council crest, makes no reference to the funding having come from the authority. "This is public money, not Cllr Messarra's money, and it should at the very least say that it was presented to the Regal by him on behalf of the town council," said one councillor who asked not to be named. But Cllr Messarra refuted any suggestion that he had acted incorrectly. "They just don't want to see my name on it,' he told the Free Press. "I don't really know what accusations are being made about what I have or have not done and I need to find out. "It seems that some councillors are just trying to make an issue out of something that is not an issue. "I don't believe any overspend has to be sanctioned by the council but if anyone wants to make a fuss I am more than happy to pay for it out of my own pocket - I paid for the staff Christmas dinner myself and I will pay for anything else they want me to. "Nobody told me I had to use my allowance for hospitality only. In fact I was told I could do whatever I liked with it and I have chosen to use it for donations for things that will benefit the town. "I don't know where they get the £800 figure from because only £600 went on the sign. "I am just trying to do something good for Minehead." Photo: Steve Guscott.
