Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Time to ride the wind


Greetings everyone.  There is a stirring in my soul that raises me to fill the sails again with a fresh breeze to stir the doldrums of Liverpool’s civic affairs. 


There is a lot of news to report but I will keep this start up blog as a short rush of good air. Over the coming months I will provide commentary on how I see Liverpool since the 2008 Council election and I intend to roll out a few ideas for the years to come.
 February 4th was one of those key dates in ones life. On that day in 1980, 30 years ago, I responded to a local issue - a classic case of private rich man interest being placed before the public interest by elected Councillors. It was in the midst of an extraordinary  time of religious conversion ( a most misunderstood expression so do not consume or recoil ). I attended a public meeting at the East Ward Progress Association in the Clinches Pond Hall. I left it admiring the solid civic engagement that proceeded at the meeting ( although I was later described as being a  disruptive influence which I probably was, but misunderstood....). I came to recognise the East Ward Progress Association as being a vehicle of civic service that was open and independent with a commitment to truth in its actions. It engaged in politics at the grass root level and played it straight, and tough when it had to. It was so successful that the local Labor power brokers broke up the Ward system in Liverpool and excised the East Ward from the electoral boundaries. They formed a two ward,  North and South, electoral map that has proved disastrous for Liverpool since 1995. More on this at a  later time.               

30 years later I have a deep hold of stories to tell, and I know the ropes. I am still passionate towards the necessity of having an informed and engaged citizenry.

Hoist the mainsail. Here we go.

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