SARAH ROMMELL is the new councillor on Hedon Town Council. The independent beat her Labour opponent Steve Gallant by 44 votes.
- Sarah Rommell, Independent – 250 votes
- Steve Gallant – 206 votes
Electorate: 5,065 – Turnout 9% – Thursday 25th April 2013
Congratulations to both candidates on their campaigns – important issues have been raised which will undoubtedly be discussed in further detail in the town in the coming weeks and months.
29 thoughts on “Independent wins Town Council election”
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Thank you David. I look forward to working with you. When can i get started?
Ray – perhaps HTC should explain to the blog just what it is about – what we do – what the limits are to our remit – I will propose to the next F&GP meeting
wow …seems ive missed some pretty heavy debate, …. Anna Goldberg …what are you looking for from your new town Councillor ??? You do understand powers are very limited. I think Sarah has already told us lots about herself and what she would like to accomplish , i wish her luck with these endeavors and hope she receives the support of the rest of the Councillors, however im sure it will take some time to settle in and work out how everything works, Not sure i understand your comments about a conservative council , i believe the town council has quite a mix of members could you explain what you mean please.
Hi Neil
I agree, the town council does have quite a mix of members but if you were to take a straw poll in Hedon it is my assertion that the public perception would be that we have a Conservative council.
The creation of profiles for council members as muted elsewhere on this site would go a long way to clarifying this perception/misperception.
As for our new town councillor,I expect what everyone should expect of their elected representatives, excellence.
And this is how a blog of this nature should work, frank and open exchanges of views with mutual respect at all times.
I look forward to further discussions in the future and although we may not always agree, it will certainly stimulate debate.
Hello,
I promise I will do my very best Anna. I cant say that I will be able to please all of the people all of the time but everything I do will be done with total whole hearted commitment.
I feel you are concerned that I have failed to meet your expectations in some way but please understand that I haven’t been to an official meeting as a member of the council as yet.
I need to be careful and wise. I don’t want to promise things that I do not have the authority to carry out.
I agree that you should expect excellence! And if there is anything you feel I can do to better serve the people of Hedon then please let me know.
My main area of interest on the council is emergency planning. This is the area in which I have a great deal of experience.
I also have a passion for community. Everyone has something valuable to offer the community,both young and old.
I have wonderful memories of the community events in Hedon when I was a child. The memories stayed with me. I honestly believe we have all we need to build a great community, a place we all love to live and I know that we can and will achieve this.
Hi Sarah
I do appreciate that you are less than a week into your new post and it would be absurd of me to suggest that you have failed to meet my expectations – I struggle to understand why you have come to this conclusion. It is an unwritten social responsibility of the electorate to ensure that our elected representatives deliver on their promises and to scrutinise any claims they make. It’s called being a critical friend and it’s nothing personal. It might be a good idea for you to start the ball rolling on the idea to create profiles for all the members of Hedon Town Council, it would be a great opportunity for you to engage with the electorate.
Good luck.
Excellent suggestion Ray – could not agree more
Perhaps this is something that could be suggested at Council, David? Sometimes there is the impression that “The Council” is an anonymous, grey body – in actual fact its a collection of very different people, with different interests, involved in all aspects of town life. As a regular observer at Council meetings then, rather than ‘grey’, I think we have a really colourful team of characters who are all very approachable!
It might be a good thing to have more material published on who the Councillors are – and the things that interest them?
I think it would be a good idea for our new councillor to let the people of Hedon know a little bit more about herself. She clearly understands what it is like to live in Hedon, the day-to-day practicalities and all, but I think a little bit more about her background would be good. Any crossover skills she can bring from her working life, any previous involvement in community affairs, anything really that gives the people of Hedon an insight into what makes her tick and what she can bring to the table.
Anna – It’s probably a bit unfair to put so much pressure on Sarah when she’s not even had opportunity to attend a few Town Council meetings first!
Also. Sarah will be joining a team of Councillors who collectively between them do lots of work on behalf of town. It’s how the Council makes its decisions, the different ideas, debates and discussions, that is interesting.
However, there might some merit in all the town councillors having a profile of themselves on the Town Council website? This could be reproduced on the Blog and might list background, interests, etc.
When I cast my vote it was for someone who would hit the ground running, someone who would shake the status quo a little. Maybe I was expecting a little too much.
Anna – Interesting expectations seeing as she was only elected on Thursday. Even before Sarah won the seat she was establishing the groundwork for the formation of a Special Needs Youth Group with an elected councillor, which was one of her aims stated in the leaflet. There have been no council meetings since the election so how on earth can she shake things up with no meeting? She has been talking with people on Saturday and Sunday to ascertain the people’s needs, what more could any Town Councillor do in her first 73 hours of office?
As for the results of the election, she won – without the backing of a major party doing her printing or arranging her campaign or having to resort to lies to scare the electorate unlike her opponant. Fortunately the public saw through the tissue of lies woven by the Labour Party.
I think it is a little premature to judge Sarah’s performance on the council after such a short time and your prejudices show in the posts you have made.
“Hitting the ground running” seems to be a quote from the Labour Propaganda Leaflet, I take you are not too happy with the result?
JaseB – I actually voted for Sarah on the strength of her campaign leaflet and if you read my posts in context you would not make such ridiculous remarks as your “73 hours of office” comment which is both inflammatory and unnecessary. It is clear what I am saying and as a member of the electorate who actually made the effort to vote I have every right to express my opinions without being labelled prejudiced and without fear of covert suggestions being made about my political allegiance. If your comments are indicative of the level of debate we can expect then maybe I really am expecting too much – yes I have high expectations but shouldn’t we all demand the very best from our elected representatives? I would like the mediators of this site to take a look at your comments as I believe that their confrontational nature is not in the spirit of this site.
Calm down people – please!
Let’s have a political “holiday” and agree to disagree!
Very good Ray. It’s always a dangerous move to make when telling a woman to “calm down” but I fully appreciate what you are saying on this occasion. I just take issue when people read my comments and show their immaturity by making naive assumptions about me and backing them up with ill-judged and ill-mannered comments. Maybe a little maturity is required here and I for one will take the lead. Agree to disagree for sure but please, less of the misguided assumptions about people and more open debate.
Just one thought Ray, have you ever considered being a boxing referee, mediating on here seems like good practice! Keep up the good work.
Hi Anna, I sense from your post that you feel disappointed in me. What is making you feel I haven’t hit the ground running.? In all honesty Anna I have been so busy meeting people who want to bring up issues regarding Hedon that my feet haven’t hit the ground.
Is there anything you would like me to address.? I will be more than happy to do so.
You mention that you wanted someone to shake the status quo. I cant go onto a council with an axe to grind with people I don’t know. I cant assume anything about my fellow council members or make judgments about them as I don’t know any of them well enough to form opinions. They are far more experienced than me when it comes to matters of the council and I am a team player. If I feel things need shaking then I will shake but right now I would like to get to know the council members and hope I can work with them as part of a productive team.
congratulations Sarah and a warm welcome to the Town Council .
Hi Dianne,
Thank you for your welcome. I am looking forward to working with you all.
I am keen to get started x
The winner receives 250 votes from an electorate of 5,065! That’s less than 5% of the electorate! Due to the apathy of the people of Hedon our new councillor can hardly claim to have a mandate for action. That said, when she enters the bear-pit of the council chambers she will have her hands full resisting the manipulations of the existing councillors and their clear Conservative agenda. I will watch with interest to see if any of her campaign aims actually come to fruition. They all seem pretty well thought out and sensible, practical measures which would improve the daily lives of the people of Hedon – maybe her first question to her fellow councillors should be why they haven’t taken these measures already!
Anna,
Bear Pit? That sounds challenging 🙂
I like a challenge.
You sound very passionate. I really do look forward to meeting you. If you see me around please introduce yourself.
Good morning Sarah
Coffee and toast first thing in the morning looking at the glorious St. Augustine’s Church towering above the town – Hedon is truly a beautiful place to live. In the spirit of all town councillors telling the people of Hedon a little more about themselves it would be good to find out a little more about our newest councillor first. Your background, your skill-set etc. I am particularly interested in your background in emergency planning which you say you have a great deal of experience in as this is an area I have been involved in throughout my working life. Maybe we could exchange thoughts.
Anna …who are you ???? your constant ranting regards our new Councillor is becoming almost like bullying, why arnt you asking our other Councillors about there backgrounds, You have appeared not days after the election having never commented previously and seem to have some kind of vendetta against Sarah ….if you have some sort of problem come out and say it and stop this ridiculous ranting… why the sudden interest … and seems like a lot of fuss for a Councillor who has very little power to change anything …i find your behaviour very odd to say the least…this latest rant sounds like something a bond villain would say i nearly fell over laughing when i read it …..get a massive grip
Hi Neil
So this is the level of debate we can expect on this site is it? Councillor Dennis has already put me well and truly in my place as to a few comments I made about him on this blog but he did it with a certain degree of class for which he has my respect.
When the legitimate engagement of the electorate in scrutinising their elected representatives is compared to bullying and their comments are belittled as being nothing more than the rantings of someone with a vendetta we have ourselves a serious problem.
I voted for Sarah and my interactions on this blog with her directly have been as they should be, as a critical friend.
This thread clearly shows the need for town councillor profiles to be created as muted already on this site.
When you develop the maturity to engage in a genuine debate without the need to resort to such petulent language then I will be more than happy to exchange thoughts.
And my grip is just fine, I play off an eight handicap!
Well done Sarah and welcome to the Council – I look forward to working with you
I thank everyone who voted for me and gave their support.
I look forward to working with you John.
Thank you to Ray for following the election.
well done sarah, proof again that party politics is a thing of the past, people want an independent voice, who can really speak on there behalf without the bind of folloeing party policy. I wish you every success
Many congratulations to Sarah, and commiserations to Steve.
I look forward to working with you on the council Sarah.
John Dennis