Monday, 29 June 2009
Footpaths by the station
Friday afternoon (shortly before the downpour thankfully)was a site visit to the troublesome footpaths near Cressington Station. Network Rail is actually reponsible for much of these (and we even found some old signs to prove it) so as a result of wht we (councillors and neighbourhood officers) saw we are going to follow up with NR and others to see what can be done to make the paths cleaner and more pleasant to use.
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Should councillors be full time?
Every now and then this subject comes up. David Bartlett on his Dale Street Blues blog raised this the other day (albeit focusing more on what Councillors are paid).
Admittedly when I am doing the 5 30 am casework e mails so I stand a fighting chance of getting to work on time the thought of being a full time Councillor appeals.
But if no elected members were in other employment we would lose a lot.
I'll give you an example. Last night I was at a Select Committee where among other things we discussed HR, health and safety, debt and benefits and students and Council Tax. Our discussions were helped hugely by the fact that among the Councillors were people whose professional employment gave them experience and expertise of parts of these areas. They were able to bring a perspective to the debate that informed common sense may not have.
Now you could argue that it is possible to make yourself an expert by research. And certainly many councillors develop a specialist area and research it. But the real world experience is so very very useful.
Being in employment elsewhere also means you keep a real world connection. Now I know that we all do a lot of talking to residents, joining in things, sharing ideas etc and that is all great. For the most part we live in or near the wards we represent and we are with constituents every day. But it is so very easy, if you do nothing but politics, to lose some of the real world perspective. If nothing else those Councillors with jobs are better at ensuring that meetings are accessible to working people than those without!
That's not to say that everyone has other employment. Some Councillors are retired. Others have huge voluntary work commitments which are just as important as paid work. But a situation in which everyone regarded themselves as solely a politician would, at local level, be a great loss I think.
Admittedly when I am doing the 5 30 am casework e mails so I stand a fighting chance of getting to work on time the thought of being a full time Councillor appeals.
But if no elected members were in other employment we would lose a lot.
I'll give you an example. Last night I was at a Select Committee where among other things we discussed HR, health and safety, debt and benefits and students and Council Tax. Our discussions were helped hugely by the fact that among the Councillors were people whose professional employment gave them experience and expertise of parts of these areas. They were able to bring a perspective to the debate that informed common sense may not have.
Now you could argue that it is possible to make yourself an expert by research. And certainly many councillors develop a specialist area and research it. But the real world experience is so very very useful.
Being in employment elsewhere also means you keep a real world connection. Now I know that we all do a lot of talking to residents, joining in things, sharing ideas etc and that is all great. For the most part we live in or near the wards we represent and we are with constituents every day. But it is so very easy, if you do nothing but politics, to lose some of the real world perspective. If nothing else those Councillors with jobs are better at ensuring that meetings are accessible to working people than those without!
That's not to say that everyone has other employment. Some Councillors are retired. Others have huge voluntary work commitments which are just as important as paid work. But a situation in which everyone regarded themselves as solely a politician would, at local level, be a great loss I think.
Rushing around
Yesterday was one of those days that could have done with a few extra hours!
Up early to deal with some case work by e mail then off to the station to work. I was teaching on the FastTrack programme, which is a scheme for people who don't have the usual qualifications to get into University. Its an intensive series of sessions to get them ready for potential entry onto a degree in September. Focused on how news is created and then on crisis communications (sadly a growing area of PR!).
Then a spell sorting things out for the External Examiner (who looks at our students' work and the way we have marked things) before rushing back to Liverpool.
First meeting - electoral committee. A waste of time as six of us were effectively being asked to make a decision on behalf of the Council with no consultation of colleagues. Agreed to put the decision off to at least test the waters with others.
Second meeting - Corporate Services Select Committee. I am there in my Exec Member Capacity. Lasted just over two hours but some good discussions on important (and interesting) topics. I made some points about students and Council Tax.
Then off to the Phil for the Malcolm Gradwell talk. He's the author of Blink, The Tipping Point and Outliers. Really enjoyed it but felt it could have done with a Question and Answer session at the end. He used some events in the American Civil was as an analogy when talking about the current financial crisis. Its the overconfidence and mistakes of expertise you have to worry about, not the mistakes of the incompetents!
Finally home , and a few more e mails. In between all of this I actually managed to make a few phone calls and a few appointments.
and today - more of same!
Up early to deal with some case work by e mail then off to the station to work. I was teaching on the FastTrack programme, which is a scheme for people who don't have the usual qualifications to get into University. Its an intensive series of sessions to get them ready for potential entry onto a degree in September. Focused on how news is created and then on crisis communications (sadly a growing area of PR!).
Then a spell sorting things out for the External Examiner (who looks at our students' work and the way we have marked things) before rushing back to Liverpool.
First meeting - electoral committee. A waste of time as six of us were effectively being asked to make a decision on behalf of the Council with no consultation of colleagues. Agreed to put the decision off to at least test the waters with others.
Second meeting - Corporate Services Select Committee. I am there in my Exec Member Capacity. Lasted just over two hours but some good discussions on important (and interesting) topics. I made some points about students and Council Tax.
Then off to the Phil for the Malcolm Gradwell talk. He's the author of Blink, The Tipping Point and Outliers. Really enjoyed it but felt it could have done with a Question and Answer session at the end. He used some events in the American Civil was as an analogy when talking about the current financial crisis. Its the overconfidence and mistakes of expertise you have to worry about, not the mistakes of the incompetents!
Finally home , and a few more e mails. In between all of this I actually managed to make a few phone calls and a few appointments.
and today - more of same!
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Jack Allen plans - deadline tomorrow for objections
The deadline for objections to the Jack Allen waste plan is tomorrow (24th June). If you have a letter and realise now its too late to catch the post, put it through my door today and I'll take it to the Council offices when I go in tomorrow. I live at 75 Canterbury Street, Garston (which is in the part referred to as Under the Bridge).
Monday, 22 June 2009
Africa Oye
I went to Africa Oye at Sefton Park this weekend. Its a great festival. What I hadn't realised it it is apparently the largest festival of African music in the UK.
Apart from the great music I also managed to do a bit of shopping from the stalls. If you haven't been to this before, do make a date for next year as its fantasic (even when the weather isn't that great)
Apart from the great music I also managed to do a bit of shopping from the stalls. If you haven't been to this before, do make a date for next year as its fantasic (even when the weather isn't that great)
Saturday, 20 June 2009
Friends of Garston Park meeting
Our next meeting is this coming Tuesday evening (23rd) at 7pm. People who've already been in touch have had letters or e mails, but if you are interested and we havent spoken yet, please do e mail me at paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk
Thursday, 18 June 2009
Well done Nick on Trident.
Now I know this news is a day or so old now but I am so pleased at what Nick Clegg has said about Trident. We absolutely shouldn't be renewing this and its good for a national party leader to say so. I can't quite figure out why Labour want to cling on to this idea, May be its a machismo thing.
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