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Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Finchie (10th Apr 2006 - 14:50:20) Sort of related to the S&G thread but didn't want this to get lost in the detail - given there is a DEADLINE ! Following on from Freddie's note about council elections, we don't have to wait until 2007 to have an elected representative on the Parish Council. We can ONLY do this NOW. In the Liphook Herald this weekend "There is a casual vacancy for a councillor caused by the resignation of Simon Coyte. A bye-election to fill the vacancy will be held if 10 electors for the parish give notice in writing calling for such an election to the Returning Officer at East Hampshire District Council, Penns Place Petersfield, Hampshire, GU31 4EX. If no such notice is given the PC will fill the vacancy by co-option. The returning officer must receive letters by Wednesday April 19th" My letter is in the post - so 9 more to go. I have three nominations:- - Mike Grimes - not met you but by your razor sharp observations on this site (inc. all the useful train input), you get my vote. - Dante - you put your hand up ! - Eneida - you put someone else's hand up :-) Also as someone rightly pointed out, it is better if Simon is part of the PC. Simon you made a fantastic point, would you stand for re-election ? If we don't do something now we can't have any cause for complaint until May 2007 ! All we could blame in the future is ourselves and apathy. Cheers, Finchie PS Love to stand but best I stay married. Current commitments already testing darling wife & family to the limit ! But one day will stand - promise!

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Eneida (11th Apr 2006 - 15:20:55) Well Finchie I'm very disappointed Mrs. F. wont let you out to play!! I think you've made 3 good suggestions for candidates and one barking mad one LOL!!!! However, joking aside, I feel we would all (including the PC probably) be much happier if we were allowed to hold a bye-election, so I've posted my letter. As a matter of interest, what would happen if there's only one candidate standing? Would they still hold an election? Eneida PS Dante, if you're going to stand you will have to reveal your name! Unless you're really called Dante, of course...do you live in a very hot place?

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Dante (11th Apr 2006 - 21:30:57) Ha, ha. Sorry to disappoint you Eneida but Dante is a nickname rather than my real first name. I use 'Dante' on the net to stop stalkers bothering me (probably a little paranoid I know). As much as I would love to stand (thanks for the vote of confidence) I've come to realise I sadly don't have the spare hours to devote to the PC at this precise moment in my life. As Andrew has pointed out - it does require quite a bit of commitment. Plus, as you say, I'd have to reveal my real name if I stood - not very Batman like! I am looking into the possibility of standing in 2007 though so watch this space! Hopefully Finchie you'll be able to stand at some point - having watched you win the uphill battle against SWT last year I know you'd be the perfect candidate! In fact I'd stake a big bet on the fact if we were to give you some flip chart paper and all the walls in the Canada room again you'd have this mess sorted out in minutes! Dante :0) p.s. I'm off to write a letter to Penns Place, and a second letter to Finchie's wife pleading with her to let him stand. p.p.s. It doesn't look like we've got a candidate yet then - go on Eneida can we vote for you?!?

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Andrew Ellis (12th Apr 2006 - 09:35:04) Go on dante stand. Why worry about your real namewe are all entitled to free speach

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Andrew Ellis (12th Apr 2006 - 09:43:32) Finchie , if less than ten apply for council post the council members will co -opt a member on to the council , if more than ten then a by-election .If there are a group of you out there that have such strong feelings you should get together and put forward one name to have a voice on the council. A by-election would be a waste of our money at this time and there would be a very very low turn out>three or four of you seem to have very strong views put a name forward , but finchie,dante or eneida sound like a sixtiespop group . Think real names will have to be used. Good luck

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Eneida Nelson (13th Apr 2006 - 08:47:35) Andrew, Your last post is confusing - you seem to be saying that there have to be 10 CANDIDATES for a bye-election to be held - that's not what Finchie said and, personally, I think he usually gets his facts right. I don't consider a bye-election a waste of my money and I don't think you should assume that there will be a "very very low turn out". I can also assure you that my real name is Eneida....another incorrect assumption on your part. Eneida

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - LippyChick (14th Apr 2006 - 10:01:23) Hi Andrew Having met both Finchie and Eneida I can quite assure you that they are real names, and real people. Dante has given his own reasons for his incognito here, which are much the same as mine by the way. I hope that clears things up :) Lips x

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Mike Grimes (15th Apr 2006 - 00:32:36) Well there is to be a by'-election, as enough letters have been received by the returning officer. There is also, apparently, a candidate (Dr J Carne) from a household quite active during the A3 tunnel public enquiry, by all accounts. Thanks for the 'Nomination' Mr. F, but I 'enjoy' similar constraints to yourself. Hapily these constraints do not stop me enjoying a pot of T.E.A. occasionally whilst on windowbox minding duty. If you'd care to join me sometime, drop me a line at mikegrimes@btconnect.com

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Allan (15th Apr 2006 - 00:57:06) As I understand it from the Herald this week, twenty or more letters were sent to Penns Place thus guaranteeing a by-election. Good news. As I further understand it, we have ,at least, one candidate declared. More please!

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Andrew Ellis (21st Apr 2006 - 16:57:53) Eneida . no i am right , but as 20 have written in there will be an election .

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Eneida (25th May 2006 - 11:37:50) If we can get our minds away from our Irish friends for a moment....EHDC have written to say that a By-Election has been set for Thursday 22nd June 2006. Does anyone know if any more candidates have come forward apart from Dr. Carne? A deafening hush seems to have fallen on this important situation!! Eneida

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Les (25th May 2006 - 11:54:24) Andy Woodage would get my vote - Top bloke!

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - barbara (25th May 2006 - 12:42:51) I think you may find if only one person comes forward he or she is co-opted by the existing members of the Parish Council If they dont like he/she the vacancy is left empty. I may be utterly wrong I think a quick phone call to the parish Office would clarify the situation. I have not seen any leaflets such as vote for me so I do not suppose a bye election is imminent.

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - barbara (25th May 2006 - 13:11:10) following on if there is a bye election we should elect somebody who doesn't represent one interest group in particular, but someone who can do their best for all the people of the Liphook area, regardless of their political views..

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Eneida (25th May 2006 - 17:06:23) Dear Barbara, If we do have a by election, I hope people will vote for whoever they want to....even if they do represent a political party. Of course you could always stand as a candidate!! I'm sure the Parish Council would appreciate someone with such positive views in their midst. :) Eneida

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - barbara (26th May 2006 - 09:10:40) I have been asked but it is a large time commitment, and also it would not be fair to impose such an odd person such as I onto Liphook Parish Council. The Parish Clerk now runs away if he sees me come in! My husband also is very squeamish about the bad publicity I would bring him! Unfortunately I cannot always keep calm and when people get angry they are not taken seriously. EHDC employs too many people at our expense and I would get too annoyed about that. There is also too much "spin" on their decisions. I once years back went to a meeting about re-cycling. The decision had already been made by EHDC, but they spent tax payers money on several PR exercises asking our views. When I asked whether they would take a vote from us the answer was no. I later found out that if Hampshire didnt go ahead money would be withdrwan from them. So we are not recycling for the environment but so EHDC can get a grant! I am in favour of recycling, but not having the truth told about things would upset me! l

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Eneida (26th May 2006 - 09:39:23) LOL Barbara! I'm sure you're no 'odder' than some of the councillors we've already got :) Having bought the Liphook Herald I read that two and possibly 3 candidates have come forward so we will have a by election....I think that's splendid and I'm sure Liphook.co had a lot to do with it. It would be nice if the candidates came on here and told us about themselves and what views they have on the future of Liphook! Eneida

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - barbara (27th May 2006 - 14:24:30) Thanks for the information. It would be great to find out something about the candidates before we vote. Perhaps they even contribute to the Liphook talkback!

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Freddie Dawkins (28th May 2006 - 10:46:38) Hi, Barbara, all here - There are now two official candidates and there's still time for a third. fourth etc. The election details are indeed in the Herald. The cost of the election will be substantial, so the more open the candidates are on their views, and the more candidates there are, the better. I think I can speak for my colleagues on the Parish Council, in saying we welcome anyone joining who has ideas and is prepared to commit themselves to hours of unpaid work over the next year, as the next round of local elections will be May 2007. Contrary to what many people think, Parish Councillors receive no pay at all. To my knowledge, none of the Parish Councillors claim any kind of expense, even when we travel to meetings outside the Parish, attend training courses, etc. Most of us give up two evenings a week, every week, plus some weekends. So any one considering standing for election must be sure they can give the time to do the job properly. Barbara - it's important to understand the various Councils. I think you're confusing various issues. At the most local level, there is the Parish Council, next up is East Hampshire District Council and then there's Hampshire County Council. This election, caused by Simon Coyte's resignation, is just for the Parish Council. Anyway, will be interesting to see the press coverage on the various candidates and let's be grateful for this community website. The Editor does a great job and we get all of this for free - I reckon he deserves some kind of community award! Freddie Dawkins

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - barbara (30th May 2006 - 18:23:03) Thanks Freddie, did you find a home for your lovely Dog? Thank you for the information. Why does a bye election have to be expensive? Information about the candidates and to be told when and where to vote is all people need surely? Can it not be included in the next issue of Partners magazine to cut costs? I know the Parish Council are unpaid and voluntary but can not they can claim all their expenses ? I am all in favour of Parish Councils and wish they had more power to get things done locally without so much reference to powers further up the line. Would not that cut costs also? Think of all the paperwork saved! Also more people would come forward if the meetings did not go on so late! If more people knew exactly how many people were employed by EHDC directly they would be staggered I am sure. PS Parish Councils generally do a good job.

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Eneida (1st Jun 2006 - 09:03:22) I think voting should be made compulsory in this country for all elections, just like in Australia! I also think it's about time a better, modern system was introduced....like on-line, by text phone, or why not use the interactive button on the television? Surely something like that would make it cheaper and much quicker. It seems archaic to have people counting bits of paper nowadays!! Eneida

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Freddie Dawkins (1st Jun 2006 - 09:40:45) Hi, Barbara - Yep, Mollie went to a really good home and she's settled in well. She is a tremendously bright dog and just needed someone to love her and with space. Just the admin of the election is quite expensive - manpower, paperwork, notices, etc etc. But it's good that we have people wanting to join the Parish Council and contribute. I'm all for democratic representation. There's no getting away from the evening meetings unfortunately. The Parish has grown so much, in terms of people, that Liphook is now a small town and no longer a village. With that comes a lot more work. I also wish PC's had more executive powers. There are a lot of planning and highways/transport issues, for instance, that we could do really well at local level. Instead we are limited to an advisory role and it can be frustrating to know what the issues are and not have budget or decision-making authority to move things on more quickly. rgds Freddie

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - barbara (1st Jun 2006 - 11:17:38) Thanks for the reply- if as you say and I agree Liphook is now a small town, probably due to get a lot bigger soon could not you lobby to have the status changed from village, and thereby gain more local powers? I agree with enieda the system needs modernising and a secure online voting system would help even perhaps a telephone vote for those who do not have the facilities of e-mail.

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Ferret (3rd Jun 2006 - 02:14:19) It is encouraging to see democracy at work on a local basis. Naturally, both new declaired candidates must air their credentials as fit and proper to represent ; withholding nothing which may prejudice the local electorate against them. I am concerned that some adverse publicity regarding one of the candidates made national headlines in the not so distant past. It is imperative that they clear the air on this for the community to assess whether it is nonsense or a thing of the past.

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Barbara (3rd Jun 2006 - 18:27:32) Dear Ferret, Please elaborate on what you said about news on one of the candidates reaching the national press. I do not know anything about that- was it to do with anything important?

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Eneida (3rd Jun 2006 - 18:50:13) Yes indeed Ferret....if you know something about one of the candidates that appeared in the national press please share it with the rest of us! I'm always suspicious about people who make allegations about other people, but haven't the b@lls to use their own name. Eneida

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Barbara (6th Jun 2006 - 20:08:34) Enieda and any one else interested, I put both candidates names into a google search, nothing contentious appeared although I would have to be a journalist to dig deeper! The only reference is to Dr Carne giving evidence at the A3 tunnel enquiry 2 years ago now, against the proposed alternative to the A3 Tunnel, the western bypass. Hardly damaging! For those who cannot vote in person there is a postal vote available to be applied for until June 7th from Hannah Smith on 01730 234093. I do hope more information on both candidates will be forthcoming soon.

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Ferret (7th Jun 2006 - 01:12:32) Eneid@, Fact is I ain't standing for election. Do you not think that if an individual wishes to propose him/her self for the approbation of the community by means of presentation of who they are and what they stand for that it should be an open book situation. I think that the individual concerned ought to hold his hand up for no other reason than to eliminate the other candidate from the suspicion of impropiety which, inevitably is unfairly implied. We shal wait and see.

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Eneida (7th Jun 2006 - 08:28:51) Hi Barbara, I also googled and couldn't find anything on either candidate, except for the A3 Report. I think it's really unfortunate that the person calling him/herself "Ferret" suggested one of the candidates might be unfit to become a Councillor, but didn't choose to tell us what the so called 'crime' was. It could be anything from a parking fine onwards for all we know. I can only imagine Ferret is trying to cause mischief!! I really hope it doesn't put people off voting on the 22nd June. Eneida

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - barbara (7th Jun 2006 - 10:57:42) I think if something so important was known about either candidate and had reached national level, we would have heard about it by now! Anyone with any common sense would realise that before standing for public office one has to be not above reproach exactly but without scandal which could be harmful due to bad publicity. I am more interested in how both candidates think they could make a positive contribution to Liphook and what their main interests will be- eg roads planning finance etc. I am concerned that the younger candidate who is employed with a youngish family, I think may not have the neccessary time to devote to the meetings etc, as it will be very time consuming.

Re: Councillor Vacancy - One Week deadline - Eneida (7th Jun 2006 - 12:13:25) Dear Ferret, Since you obviously think one of the candidates has committed an impropriety that makes him unfit to be a Liphook Councillor my advice to you it to immediately contact EHDC. In fact, you should have done that in the first place. I don't think you should involve Liphook.co in such a serious allegation on someone's character. Eneida

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