Hot - Wiring the Council.

That's what we do. For you.

I know, seems odd doesn't it. There's a council that you all pay for with large amounts of (a fundamentally unfair style of) taxation. As such, you'd have thought it would run to be as open and accountable as possible for the people who ultimately own it; You. You'd have thought it would be easy to use, easy to access, and easy to find one's way around in?

Somehow it all went very wrong.

Under seemingly endless Labour administrations, our local council has become a by-word for mismanagement, Byzantine practices, and thoughtless decision making.Unresponsive to local wants and needs. Basically, past it's sell-by date.

Well it'll take a while - 35 years of tying knots doesn't untie in an instant - but we are here to untie it for you. I'm not going to write a long list of our manifesto pledges to reinvigorate YOUR council, just go to the Camden LibDems web-site and read it for yourself. I will however say that the work has begun.

As promised, we've got rid of the pointless, nasty, unhelpful, clamping. (For years Camden was the testing ground for Labour Governments projects - you were wondering why it had got so dire weren't you - and this last week we hear that following our lead, central Labour government are now to look at the whole gamut of parking controls. The dog finally wags the tail.)

However the real work has only just begun. Getting the services to the people who own them, FAST. Hence the title, "Hot-Wiring the Council".

YOU elected US. The local and national Labour politicians seem to have forgotten this essential point. WE are here to do YOUR bidding. I wish our society would remember that small yet vital fact a little more often.

To this end, we hold regular local ward surgeries. In Belsize we each hold a surgery once a month. That's three a month, every month, come rain or shine. No matter whether it be the summer holidays (the Conservatives used to stop for August!) or Christmas time (our last for '06 is the 23rd December, our first in '07 is the 1st of Jan). We are here for you and we can get your problems and concerns directly to the people who matter.

Why am I telling you this? Well, so far I've been to all our surgery sessions and the range of issues facing residents of Belsize (and I suspect the rest of Camden also) is huge. To be perfectly honest, when you first elected us, I was somewhat overwhelmed by the thought of representing the needs of 8000+ people, but I am starting to see just how essential and personally satisfying this job will be.

Please don't be shy, and please don't be unsure about contacting YOUR local councilors. Chris Basson, Alexis Rowell and myself are here for you, to represent you, and to help you get the thing you need from your local council.

Vive La Revolution.

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