And So it Begins.

That bit of paper is the ‘next step’ in my involvement in Local Government.

That is my name on a list of candidates who will be representing the Ward of Roffey North in the May 5th Horsham District Council elections.

I am also standing for the Parish Council Elections in the same ward which means I might have made myself very busy for 2011.

I surprise a few people when they discover that I am interested in Council and Government.

Do not be concerned that you can clearly see the names and addresses on the paper for if you were at all interested you could see the names and addresses of any candidate by inspecting the councils own website.

So why am I standing ?

Because I can and because,” you have to be the change you want to see. “  As a councillor you can bring your experience and skills to the cabinet meetings. You  can help shape decisions made in those meetings. Much of what will shape Local Council and National Government in the next decade will be the Internet and the World Wide Web.

Being involved in those meetings ensures  I  bring my own experience and skill sets to the table. A small part of that skill set and experience enabled me to ensure that North Horsham Parish Council avoided spending over 1k a year on a Website hosting company  instead the Parish uses WordPress and its Free. Those are small savings but we are saved the  potential price rises in subscriptions for a service we did not need.

I thought  you were with another Party ?

Yes for quite a while I was with the Conservatives and I had hoped that my involvement would give me the opportunity to explain to Francis Maude my concerns over the Digital Economy Act . What I discovered was that they were not  interested in listening to their own member which made me wonder if they would be interested in listening to the views of an electorate ?  I joined the Liberal Democrats because they had listened to their own members and had taken a different  stance on that Bill .

Many people suggested I was more Liberal than Conservative but I suspect I will always be too much in either camp for either side . What I have come to understand is the core issues for Horsham are not ones that fit conveniently into a particular banner and will require people who are part of Horsham as public , as business and as councillor. 

Was it okay with you that I chose to change my party because I believe the Internet is an important facet of our society and needs people who understand what it means ?

Do you plan to make a difference ?

When you are one council member your views are sought and you may not necessarily sway the committee by a vote alone. When I addressed the issues on webhosting spend I was only one among many and I  understood the issue enough to take time to convince the chairman and the clerk that there was a better answer.

I dont intend to be elected to simply sit out a term; I am looking to take part in the debate and put forward issues that relate to the electorate.

How can you help ?

If you want to help me then there are a number of things you can do.

• Help keep the noise levels and awareness up in the Horsham Facebook Group or your own Groups about Local Elections lets look at the candidates and see what they offer and then create some comments, status updates and tweets about them or me.
• Do you know anyone in the Roffey North Horsham ( RH12 ) ward that I should know about. That I can ask “Will you vote for me and Dr David Skipp ?” Point them to this Blog or to the Horsham LIberal Democrats website ask them to vote.
• Donate : The cost of publishing a Leaflet for delivery to my ward is £70 Every donation helps in a little way and will go to ensure that we can put out flyers, leaflets and literature. We still need to deliver news the traditional way since not everyone in this Ward will be online and Facebooking or tweeting.

Thanks for reading.

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