Will there be pictures... cuz, maybe I want a second copy.

::swoon::

I'll even autograph a copy, if you like...

have you ever considered autographing body parts? I wouldn't want to change the pristine nature of the published article. My body, however...

I beat a good fencer tonight... I'm starting to figure this out. and he was tired

jewels or electronics?

antiques

Background: at the last Budget Council we (the Labour group) managed to force a change in the budget to allow two community/youth centres to stay open which had been pegged for closure as a budget cut. Full Council voted on that budget which means full council have decided that the community centres should be kept open.

Three weeks later the Council officers closed one of the centres to youth provision on Health and Safety grounds (convenient no? Especially given that there's a large plot of council land adjoining it that they want to sell to a developer).

Since the centre is in the ward I represent I have been heavily involved with it. Adults can still use it for the moment (though without the youth provision it will be underused and get sold on soon) so my ward colleague and I met with the residents who use it yesterday.

Tonight was Children and Young Persons Scrutiny Panel (which scrutinises the operations and strategy of the CYP Directorate on the council) and we put a call-in of the issue on the agenda.

Oh man, it was great! Six residents turned up and sat in the public seats through the meeting, so they were there to hear us batting for them. Because I sit on that panel, I spoke both as their ward councillor and as a scrutiny member (not a conflict of interest unless it's quasijudicial which scrutiny isn't). If I do say so myself, I was good! I argued well and asked the right questions of the officers. I had all the facts and figures at my fingertip and was able to make a case (with my colleague) for questioning the H&S report's findings. I was also able to make a good case for the potential damage that the removal of youth services from the centre of the estate may have on the relationship between the estate kids and the estate adults (if they are no longer interacting positively with them on a regular basis through the centre).

Got unanimous support from the other panel members (cross-party) to submit a recommendation to Cabinet that it commission an independant survey of the building and if costs can be brought down do the minimum repairs necessary to get the centre open in the short term; in addition that the council should engage in a full consultation with the estate community as part of the decision making process on the centre's future.

*grins* I'm hyper now. It was a difficult debate, with that single agenda item taking up the first hour of the meeting and the officers were pushing their own agenda (I am convinced they've been deliberately not maintaining it until they can justify offloading it on the grounds of it not being economical to repair an barely used building.

The residents were delighted at the discussion and were really happy with the way my colleague and I represented them. It's only a first step and the Cabinet are under no obligation to act on our recommendation, but it would be politically uncomfortable for them to do so. Likely they'll get it open for a few months, start consulting and then close it again stating that further repairs are necessary and overbudget. But, at least we won this little fight and I got to strut my stuff as a proper Councillor in front of my peeps.

Quick word of explanation regarding above post:

When something is called in to scrutiny by an elected member the officers who are responsible for that matter have to attend scrutiny and present a report responding to the Call-in questions. They then answer any questions panel members put to them. These people are senior officers (many of them directors and senior managers) and therefore have a degree of expertise in their fields that the elected members generally don't share: consequently there is a tendency for them to view us as a bit of a nuisance getting in the way of their shiny plans and strategies. If the strategies fail of course they keep their job whilst we get voted out of office:P

It's difficult to get underneath the reports sometimes. It's amazing how much someone can say without really giving any useful details. It's also amazing how the different internal systems can create a catch 22 situation when it's convenient.

My work assignment was triple booked so I got bumped. I would be upset about this if not for this rotten cold. It's actually quite nice to have another half day off. :)

I've seen your picture. I'd like to bump you, if it weren't for all that snot and stuff... :rolleyes:

What's making me happy? See what's making me unhappy thread. It was a twofer.

I learned Zippy's secret to happiness today, and I'm going to get to meet my first Cellar dwellar tomorrow. Yeah!! The sun even shines on a rat's ass once in awhile.

This coming Monday: My first time rowing. It'll be in a four or an eight. My girlfriend's dad is a coach, and their entire family is row-happy. I'm pumped to give it a try.

This coming Wednesday: A concert.

The Monday after next I'll be on my way to school. Everything is basically ready to go, just waiting for a fat check from SallieMae.

My husband just escaped his job to bring me flowers at work! Awesome! Now my office smells like lilly's.

But what does Lilly's office smell like?