Everyday's a Classroom

Over the last couple of years, basically since I was elected as a councillor, I have learned so much and yet still, every day is a class room.

People often describe learning new things as being  on a learning curve

e.g.




However, my experience of the last two years has not been as gradual as this. It's been a far steeper, in at the deep end kind of thing e.g.





Quite honestly, I wonder what on earth possesses anyone to want to fight an election, busting their guts to get people to vote for them. There are local and European elections coming up on May 22nd so the campaigning season will shortly be upon us.

Politics is a tough job, and if you're going to do it excellently, it takes over your life and family. You need to learn a lot about a very wide range of issues so that you can help your constituents to the very best of your ability.

I've been learning so much, both from my own experience and from the wisdom of other, more experienced councillors, who are also incredibly passionate about serving the people of this District.

To me politics is about the simple straightforward things, you know like representing people so that you can help to make their lives a little better and help them deal with specific issues that may be getting in the way of that.

Just casting my mind back over the last couple of months I've dealt with issues to do with: allotments, highways, council tax, benefits, food banks, boundary fencing, anti-social behaviour, dog fouling, fly tipping, littering, education, health care, play, planning issues and probably a lot more that I can't just call to mind so quickly.

But we all know that there's a lot more to it than that. I am rapidly coming to the realisation that while I still have a heck of a lot to learn and a lot to do, it is all worth it. There's more criticism than thanks but I will keep on going to serve the people within this district which I love.