County Council Elections

[Joe K]

So, Kay, congratulations on 'moving' back to Barton & Tredworth. Though I guess you didn't physically move back, it's just the change of county council boundaries that have 'relocated' you...

Still, I wonder if you would mind me nominating you for a place on the partnership committee when the papers come out? It would test the principle of whether they recognise the county boundary or only the city council one, and you could always decline if you did get a place, although I suspect you might be quite interested in having a say in what we do (most of the committee tend to kowtow to whatever the chairman says at the moment, so a different viewpoint would be refreshing).

Read more: trollhunterx.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=94#ixzz2PdwE4Y8t

[Deleted]

That link doesn't work.

I don't mind joining the committee, but I'm through with agreeing to other people's stupid ideas or accepting lies, so I don't think that I would stay on the committee for very long. It could make things interesting, though. I got thrown off the Moreland Community Partnership committee for refusing to accept the word of a police constable; he swore that it was a ruling by the county council that made the 20mph speed limits unenforceable (but refused to produce any evidence to back up the claim); he had retired by the time that I discovered that it was actually an instruction from central government.

[Joe K]

That's very odd. I don't even remember adding a link, and 'Read more:' is not usually my style...

I know you don't suffer fools, or foolishness, gladly, Kay. I'm accused of similar intolerance, though in emails rather than challenges at actual meetings. People characterise this as underhand, perhaps even cowardly, but your experiences demonstrate that 'if they ain't gotcha one way, they gotcha anuvver'.

I'm learning, though, and not to sound patronising, you can too. I've seen enough now to realise that taking part in meetings is like rock-climbing, not rambling. If you don't take stock of how secure you are at regular intervals, you can soon find yourself in big trouble. For banging in and testing the sureness of a piton before the next couple of handholds, read asking those present to speak up if they have a problem with anything you say, and ask for a vote if there is the slightest possibility of retrospective criticism. Get everything that matters at all, every suggestion for improving the community, on record.

It might whiff of bureaucracy, but it's the only way forward in our present circumstances. The alternative is frustration.