Could you tell readers about yourself, and why you’ve chosen to try and represent this ward?
I was first elected to the Council in 1999 for the Garelochhead and Cove Ward and, when the new multi-member wards were introduced in 2007, I was elected as one of the three councillors for the Lomond North Ward.
I have always stood as an Independent (Non-Political) councillor as I believe that party politics should not play a part in local government and that councillors should always put their communities and those who elected them first. As I believe I have continued to demonstrate that over the years, my principles on this have not changed and the communities I am elected to represent will always come first. I am certainly not the kind of person who would be willing to put the priorities of any political party before the needs of my constituents and the communities that I am elected to represent.
I love being a councillor and the ability it gives me to help so many people in addressing their problems. I hate injustice and as many people know, I am like a dog with a bone and will not let go in pursuing issues on behalf of my constituents and their communities.
What do you think are the three key issues in the future for the ward, and how close is your relationship with it?
I believe that I continue to have a close relationship with all the communities across my ward. Out with the Covid restrictions that have been in place over the past two years, I believe that I was one of the few councillors to hold face to face monthly surgeries across my ward (three each month) which allowed constituents to meet with me face to face to discuss any issues or problems they had. I also attended the public meetings of the six Community Council across my ward which allowed me to keep up to date with any issues / problems in our local communities. Now that the Covid restrictions are being lifted, if re-elected, I will be starting to hold my monthly surgeries again and to start attending Community Council meetings which are now starting to be held in public again. I believe that face to face meetings are essential and are far preferable to the virtual on line meetings that we have been forced to hold during the Covid crises. I always make myself available to constituents and, out with my monthly surgeries, can be contacted by email, phone or even by constituents knocking on my door when they have a problem to discuss.
Currently Argyll and Bute Council is run by TALIG – the Argyll, Lomond and the Islands Group, a coalition of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and some independent councillors. If elected, would you join this group? It is public knowledge that I was thrown out of TALIG in the past for failing to support the proposed closure of Rosneath, Kilcreggan and Luss primary schools. Although I would normally say no to joining TALIG, not knowing if TALIG will even exist after the elections or how the Council will be structured means that I must wait the outcome of the elections.
Currently the council is considering a ‘collectives’ system, which would see several schools share a headteacher and management team. Do you support this policy?
The Council’s Education Change Programme has generated many fears from parents and others that our local schools could lose their head teachers. I share these concerns and have already given a commitment that I will fight any proposals that could see any reduction in head teachers or school staff within our schools.