Election

As I have made clear in the heading of this blog, I intend to stand for election on May 3rd for the county council as an independent candidate. When I say independent I mean just that - the ruling coalition administration of the council, whipped by the Leader Cllr Meryl Gravell, has systematically turned the concept into a complete joke.

Here's a reminder of the dictionary definition of independent;

1. Not controlled by another; in politics, free from the authority, control, or domination of somebody or something else.....and

2. Not affiliated to political party; not belonging to, representing, or supporting any political party....and

3. Capable of thinking or acting without consultation or guidance from others.

If I am fortunate to be elected my first priority will be to give the residents of my area a very strong voice in County Hall. I also intend to continue to campaign for transparency and accountability to benefit the whole of the county. I will also continue to write this blog in exactly the same truthful manner as I have for the past three years.

Whether I am elected or not is beside the point, I again urge the people of Carmarthenshire to vote for change or even stand themselves. The increasingly bizarre decisions taken by very senior officers, sanctioned time and time again by the puppet Executive Board must be challenged. The few backbench Councillors who do try, will, I hope, find new strength in numbers and loud voices to lead this council into a new era where they, as representatives of the residents of Carmarthenshire make the decisions, and not the unelected officers.

This undemocratic, unaccountable and increasingly farcical situation we find ourselves in must not be allowed to continue for another five years.


On the subject of votes, I noticed sometime this morning that the Council's 'filming' poll on their website had been reset to zero. This was after nearly 400 people had taken the trouble to express their opinion to this 'listening' council and vote - if I remember rightly well over 300 people had voted 'yes'.

How convenient. I daresay it will be called a 'technical error'. If you wish to take the trouble and vote again you will have to delete the appropriate 'cookie', (a handy tip from a commenter on Y Cneifiwr's blog), and recast your vote.

Filming Carmarthenshire Council meetings, however it's done, should no longer be a matter of lengthy drawn out debate it is becoming an urgent necessity. And quite clearly, they have the funds.

Update 1st March; The Council's filming poll has now disappeared completely.

Update 2nd March; After the above confusion the result of the filming poll is now on the council website;

"369 people (89.56%) said they would be likely to watch if the Council were to stream meetings online. 43 people (10.44%) said they would not be likely to watch"


So that's a resounding YES then!