| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Residents launch LBH Watch | |
| Posted by: | Vanessa Smith | |
| Date/Time: | 05/08/10 15:19:00 |
| "Those with a genuine desire to improve things for residents and to open up and democratise the process of local government will welcome the launch of this new initiative. Those who believe residents should be seen and not heard and who want to preserve the old way of doing things irrespective of whether it serves the community (and forward-thinking elected members) or not will feel threatened by it" That's an oversimplification and also rather disingenuous. So what you are saying is - if you don't agree with me then you automatically want to keep the local population in the dark and practice the dark arts of politics? I would have thought that it is self evident that anyone who stands for election - or at least the majority who do - believes that they can improve things locally and wish to work with their constituents to that end, as well as being an advocate for them when needed when the system gets in the way. Whether or not something 'serves the community' is debatable as we all have differing views on that sort of thing and what would be our own priorities. That doesn't necessarily make anyone who disagrees with you wrong, as I have said before pragmatism is often what is most important to a local politician. The decision making process does not afford the luxury of time to consult everybody about every decision, surely the purpose of elections is to mandate representatives to do this on your behalf? If you don't like what they do you have the right to kick them out, I can't see anything wrong with keeping a watching brief on things but it seems to me that there is a distinct blurring of the lines inherent in what you want from this. It would appear that it is the case some people are having a hard time coming to terms with losing out in the May elections and see this as a comfort blanket to aid withdrawal symptoms. |