Thursday 13 February 2014

Consider standing in Wokingham Borough Council elections




Your community needs you. And you ARE remunerated. Please share.

Some more local borough elections are coming up in May.
Do you ever complain about how things are run in the area? School places, congestion, over development, flooding, seemingly astronomically large contracts with no break down in costs?

Here is your chance to make a difference, in your spare time and get paid around £8k/year for the privilege before expenses and double or triple that if the leader of the council awards you, and you accept, responsibilities.

Local politics has become much like national politics in that a few cliques of politicians monopolise a role that was intended to be shared around regular members of the wider community.

This is not an administrative role, or rather should not be, it is a common sense, decency and representative role.

I wonder how many of you have been told that you will soon be able to stand for election as a Borough councillor? There is an election every year in 1/4 of the boroughs wards with each term lasting 4 years, of course you can stand down sooner.

It is amazing something so important and interesting is never promoted in the local press, no letter in the relevant wards until it is too late to stand. The establishment benefiting from poor information.

So lets put an end to crony politics.

All you SHOULD need is some good ideas and sign up to www.SMART-voter.org

Here are some ideas of measures you might call for and support that money backed / protectionist politicians won't.

  • Following Erick Pickles guidelines on filming public meetings, including planning and scrutiny and all public forums.

  • No-Fracking or supporting leaders who will appoint councillors who won't commit to same into planning committee.

  • Council must record the audio in all its public meetings and made available online for 10 years. (Our minutes are not verbatim and some contentious material goes missing)

  • Scrutiny panel to be selected at random from councillor pool with the right of refusal.

  • No residential development area where primary schools are oversubscribed until a new school is built.

  • No open space development unless conditions stipulates full down stream flooding mitigation as well as all necessary infrastructure and roads with cycle lanes.

  • Dedicated space for an A3 poster for each candidate outside polling booths.

  • Random order black and white A5 space / candidate booklet sent out with polling cards, council funded.

  • Big posters outside supermarkets and in town centre for two weeks 2 months before the elections inviting people to stand as a local councillor.

  • Poster space and two weeks before elections with equal space for each candidate.

Candidates will be invited to partake in a filmed live debate to be shared on www.youtube.com/wokinghamvoice.

After that, amongst yourselves you can choose someone with similar views to form a coalition so that the popular vote is not split and the 10% do not retain control by default.

Only about 20% of people vote locally because they are disenfranchised with politicians and the corporate machines or developers that drive their campaigns. The 80% are waiting to vote for a real person like you!

Now you can prove it. Now you have a voice.

If you are still interested then please read on. I'm happy to help and act as an agent. You can contact me through twitter @Kaz4Wokingham or Facebook Kazek Lokuciewski.


The wards that are up for Wokingham Borough Council Elections on 22 May 2014.
Borough Wards:


  • Arborfield

  • Bulmershe and Whitegates

  • Coronation

  • Emmbrook

  • Evendons

  • Finchampstead North

  • Finchampstead South

  • Hawkedon

  • Hillside

  • Loddon

  • Maiden Erlegh

  • Norreys

  • Remenham

  • Wargrave and Ruscombe

  • Shinfield South

  • South Lake

  • Swallowfield

  • Winnersh

  • Wokingham Without

You need to hand in your application on a working day between 14th of April and 4pm on Thursday 24 April 2014.

Application Form. You need 10 voters from the ward to nominate you (they can still vote for someone else). If you are just going to stand and use www.smart-voter.org and local media to promote yourself then you do not need an agent.


----------update---------------------------------------------
I'm going to stand in Evendons. I've included some justification and started working on my promise list. http://kaz4wokingham.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/leading-by-example-standing-as-borough.html
----------update---------------------------------------------
I seem to be driving the council into a little action again. http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/news/index/mar2014/councillor/
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Superfluous info for nerds

Official timescales

Government guidance

Some case studies

What is the cost of corrupt cronies running the council, how can people with less time, resources challenge them? 


http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/council/elections/candidates/

www.youtube.com/wokinghamvoice

www.smart-voter.org

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