Meet Jo, Martin’s New Personal Assistant!

Hello, everyone!

As you know, things have been very busy for Martin lately, and with so much going on, he has brought on some additional help to keep everything running smoothly. I'm Jo, Martin’s new Personal Assistant, and I will be working closely with him to ensure everything is organised, efficient, and up-to-date!

For all of you who follow Martin’s blog, this means you will be seeing more frequent updates and fresh content. With my help, Martin will have more time to focus on creating insightful blog posts, sharing his thoughts, and responding to your comments. 

What a week it's been!

Being Deputy Mayor comes with its fair share of responsibilities.

During Full Council, it was quite something to witness a former Labour party leader challenge the current Green party leadership, suggesting they needed a plan, and that it would be their job to execute it once they had one. The current leader of Labour responded by saying it was their job to deliver. The room was left in disbelief....do they even know what they’re doing?

Personally, I find it all a waste of time, spending so much time on being overly pedantic, rewriting perfectly good initiatives and motions. They are in charge anyway! 

Another member of the Labour group then said "why do we need all these motions and amended motions."

Its really something when Labour and Conservatives plus the sensible Independents all agree.  

Looking ahead, I’m excited about the upcoming events in the community as Deputy Mayor.  This Friday, I'll be attending Tea by the Sea in Teston, a fantastic opportunity to connect with residents and enjoy a relaxing afternoon. On Saturday, I’ll be at Fun Palaces at The Mall, celebrating creativity and culture with the local community. It’s always a pleasure to support such vibrant local events!

But back to politics LOCALLY I find it absolutely strange and weird to find that Conservatives and Labour can agree on so much at the moment. Lets just see how this Green Leadership continues. 

Shock; Another blog!

 So I have just done a blog to explain and update and then realised so much has happened since 2021 when I did an Annual report!

My Conservative Group were in opposition at the Council - it changed! At the time we had One Third Elections of Council  3 out of every 4 years.......and then we an Election that secured Conservative Leadership of the Council of 55 Members. 

We changed a few things: starting with the Constitution that set up FULL Council Elections every four years. That saves a lot of money in Election costs, but makes ONE big Election very intense for candidates and officers and the democratic "machine" behind it all. We also reviewed the size and make up of Wards and reduced the number of Council Members. In my case Headcorn Ward got bigger with Sutton Valence added onto the 4 parishes plus in those areas there were another 1000 houses too. More demands, more problems!  

But what a lovely place to have them! 

And we decided to  have a Leader and Cabinet system of governance, where a Leader and several key Cabinet members would lead the key areas and directions of Council and its work, as opposed to the Committee system that gave direction to Committees  where Chairs were the key leaders and all Members contributed to governance. Personally that was a wieldy and time consuming long winded process so the Cabinet system allowed quicker decisions, responses and better direction.  Saving time often saves money and cuts down on process. 

Initially I was made a Chair and then served in an interim Cabinet, then when all these new governance systems were put into practice I had a full Cabinet role. As Chair I had Recreation, Parks, Museum, Theatre/Culture etc in my remit and then I had  Waste and Environment including Cemeteries/Cremations  in my Cabinet role. 

But in Cabinet you get involved in all decisions as well as your own! It was a major drain on time ...and frankly, even in a "fellow political party" team it was a challenge..at times it was strained.. Those precious matters of time and energy had an effect on not just my time, energy and health, but also my entire MO. (Modus Operandi)

I also had some big personal issues. In 2021 my mother was on "her last legs" and by 2022 she had passed. My love for her and my intense need ...and guilt ... to provide the best was a strain. 

So in  2023 I quit Cabinet. 

I had a bit of space..... then 2024 came along and the previous posting should now make more sense when read with this!

AND that may explain some of the gap between Blogs! 

And again its been a long time!

  I have had a blog account for years and rarely used it. That is because life has been taken up, no taken over, by so much to deal with. 

The last few years have been tough, something of a challenge, many at times, for several reasons.

So I have not had the time, the energy or the inclination to write anything. Especially when I have to read and write so many emails and the odd report per day!

At this juncture I'll just mention some of those matters. Obviously some matters have many sub-components. 

The main demand on my time, energy and stress levels and indeed considerable cost has been the ailing health of my mother, her care and subsequent passing.  Before her passing her care and my worry built up to a crescendo. Initially I tried to care for her at home and then had to accept a care home was best. My local care home was superb, but being local meant frequent visiting and raised  She would not accept that though. Her ultimate death was a passage of time that involved far too many problems with NHS services and the hospital in which she died. I made a complaint and engaged my MP in that process. It took nearly 2 years of passing data and emails to get a series of apologies. 

Some closure, but not a full end to the matter. I was still trying to resolve probate and estate matters. 

Its 2 years and 2 months since my mother died and her will is still not finalised.  Not because my solicitor is idle, quite the opposite, but my my mothers death exposed how bad my fathers death was that had been handled by another Solicitors partnership.  I had problems with much of that then, when he died, but I never realised  how bad it was. It was professional incompetence as well as on the verge of corrupt! 

All this while I continued a local political role and for a very needy Ward of issues. Then I was given a Chair of Committee that became a Cabinet role in the Leadership of the Council. Ward work took up probably 20 hrs a week.   This just added another 20 or so! 

The garden was neglected, so was the house and my health. I was losing control. 

My social life still revolved  around Saracens Rugby or local community support. I did enjoy a few getaways both days out or holiday breaks, but it was so stressful preparing before and even worse recovering from the need to catch-up afterwards.  

So I knew I had to grasp the nettle and make some changes. 

I started by giving up the Cabinet role. That allowed me to make a start to tidying up the House and de-clutter some of Mothers stuff. It was also cathartic. 

But early 2024 meant preparations and then lots of active work was required for an Election in all wards and some intense activity in my area. 

Once that was over, I was asked to join the Mayoral "line" and chose to be Deputy Mayor rather than immediate Mayor. And I am now a busy Deputy! 

So time and energy has become a problem again. 

I am not going to let that time and energy dictate to my ageing and vulnerable health. So I have engaged a PA. I want to make the most of my Mayoral times. Especially as less than 5 months into the Mayoral year its proving to be the busiest Deputy Mayor year ever! Even with the Mayor doing so much. 

So you may be reading another blog entry fairly soon ...and it may be my "ghost writer" PA writing it on  my behalf.