Councillor diaries - they should be used more, but………

Posted By: Dale Mulgrew
Date Posted: 08/06/2010

I have noticed the start of a recent thread politely enquiring why there are too few of our local representatives choosing to write a word or two in the diaries section since the election. Now this is not some sanctimonious cry, because I am as guilty as the next councillor in the absence of musings on this particular forum.

And it is clear, under the sheer glare of the honesty spotlight, that I have posted probably all too infrequently. Although more than some colleagues, thanks, in part, to RO taking the time to publish reports to Council meetings (something I hope they will continue to do, it is innovative and adds value to public accountability).

However, from a personal point of view, there is a lot to do during a week as a councillor, employee, father, and husband. The eternal wrestle between competing demands from town hall meetings, ward meetings, constituent visits, party meetings, letter writing/reading and report reading, on top of the day to day work schedule and domestic life, all sometimes lead you to exasperatedly say at the end of the week, ‘Well, I should have done this and I should have done that’ - maybe included in this is a Rochdale Online diary entry.

I mention the many activities that a councillor is involved with, not because I want readers’ sympathy – it was me alone who put myself forward to represent a district in Rochdale, and to get involved in civic affairs, no one else. I have and continue to have my eyes completely wide open. However, I enjoy enthusiastically and passionately everything I do as a councillor.

Nonetheless, although I support RO diaries as a vehicle to communicate with the electorate, I am merely presenting the fact that for Councillors with competing demands, maybe, just maybe, it is something that gets lost in the weekly shuffle.

What I will hope to do though is recognise that I, personally, should settle down on a more regular basis to write a diary entry. I believe that as the diary is read as coming from the person, they are understood as so, and maybe this is why certain people have repeated the call for them to be more actively engaged with. They should be used more, but I will try to!

Dale Mulgrew