I will miss Val greatly. She was a very, very funny lady. Her ascerbic comments and observations, coupled with her worldly Mancunian persona, would make you laugh out loud.She and the late Councillor Mike Carmen used to always hold court in the old smoking room next to the Council Chamber at the Civic Centre. As a new Councillor in 1998 it was a delight to see the two of them in action. Sometimes they both could be so funny that it was like watching a skilled comic double act crossed with one of Alan Bennett's "Talking Heads" monologues.One of her funniest anecdotes was relating to being manhandled by thugs from the Greek Colonels regime in the early 1970's. I do not suppose that there are many people that could make overnight detention by a ghastly authoritarian regime sound hilarious, but Valerie could!Another lovely thing about Val was that she was never afraid to speak her mind. I was billeted one year to be the Conservative representative on the committee of a certain local charity. When I arrived at the first meeting of this committee I discovered that Valerie was the Labour representative. Now, this particular body insisted on meeting in a drafty, delapidated, porta-cabin containing rusted and broken office furniture. It was the most uncomfortable surroundings possible in which to meet. To top it all, the committee was chaired by some poor old well-meaning duffer who rambled on for hours and hours. On one particular point, the chairman got the wrong end of the stick, so Valerie explained that he had misunderstood. The old boy still didn't get the point, so I politely stepped in and tried to help, but to no avail. Val then came back and tried to explain his error once again. Still no dice. Finally, after about 10 attempts at explaining the point, Val exclaimed "Oh, you silly old bugger, we might as well all go home!" The poor old boy, being pretty deaf, had not heard the remark and bumbled on regardless. He only realised that something was afoot when I could hold back no more and started to crack up laughing!On a serious point, Val was a highly respected Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and never let her political affiliation get in the way of her quest for the truth.Anyway, in conclusion, I will miss Val Lamey greatly. She was a real character and a great Councillor. We may have been from opposite sides of the political divide, but I greatly enjoyed having her as one of my colleagues.
Cllr. Adrian Lee ● 6229d