Transcript of East Sussex County Council's Be a Councillor video
Ruth O’Keeffe - Councillor
The more I thought about it the more I thought it was a chance for just somebody ordinary to have a go. So I did and I was described four years later when I stood for district as well as ‘oh she's just somebody's mum that wanted clean drains and it got out of hand’ and I think that's a great description of me because it's exactly what I am.
Godfrey Daniel - Councillor
I was a lot younger then and determined to make the world a better place. I still have that ambition, maybe a bit naive but that's what we're all trying to do aren't we.
Carolyn Lambert - Councillor
Well I think it is possible to balance life and being a councillor. In fact I think it's really important that you do have other interests and other things to keep you in touch with what is normal life for most people. So like everybody else I've got a house to run and I do my shopping and I look after my family. And I've had a book published.
Ruth O’Keeffe - Councillor
I really enjoy people and I enjoy solving problems. That's a really big thing. There's nothing quite like going to see somebody again after you've been to see them and they said ‘this is terrible and I don't know how I'm going to sort it out’. And then you go and see them maybe six months later or you just see them on the street in Lewes and they talk to you and you think ‘yes’.
Colin Belsey - Councillor
It could be every day of the week. It could be Crowborough one day, Rye the next day.
Ruth O’Keeffe - Councillor
You're there to be the interface with the person that makes it possible for them to get a meeting where they can describe the thing that they couldn't tell people in writing properly.
David Elkin, Chairman
You need to be curious, a bit nosy. You need to be a team player.
Colin Belsey - Councillor
You can't work without working with the other parties if that makes sense. You need to all work together to get the things sorted out. There will always be differences of opinion of course but at the end of the day I think you'll find that we're all in it for the people of East Sussex.
Nick Bennet, Deputy Leader
Well, I discovered that you can actually get involved in council work at lots of different levels you can help individual people, families, you can assist with the problems that they face on a day-to-day basis. But you can get involved in what's going on in whole communities across the whole county if necessary.
David Elkin, Chairman
Adult Social Care is the biggest department within the county council. It's also got the biggest budget and it's got the biggest caseload and as a councillor it will probably be your biggest post-bag item. People looking for services of all different kinds that can be anything from people becoming ill and slipping into dementia, to needing to go into care homes or just support in their own home which is very very much in demand.
Godfrey Daniel – Councillor
It's a massive business let's be honest which provides great public services. Adult Social Care, Education, Libraries, Trading Standards, Roads and Infrastructure. There's never enough money to do all you would want and that's the problem with local government being progressively cut for many years now in terms of its finance settlement.
Bob Bowdler – Councillor
You will be attending full council and of course you can stand up and speak on that and also you attend, if you can, possibly attend cabinet meetings and you will be given an opportunity to speak in that as well and try and influence decisions.
Carolyn Lambert - Councillor
One of the most difficult decisions for everybody I think no matter what political party they are, have been decisions on the budget and that has been extraordinarily difficult.
Nick Bennet, Deputy Leader
You should always be conscious that the decisions you're making are going to affect somebody somewhere and they won't always affect people in the way that they want to be affected you know. You are always having to make decisions that will affect the community that's elected you.
Godfrey Daniel – Councillor
We can't avoid decisions if we're going to improve things for people in East Sussex.
Ruth O’Keeffe - Councillor
For me it's not about saying to people ‘I'm the great person with all the power’. I'm really a conduit for information. That's a terribly important part being a councillor.
Bob Bowdler – Councillor
The virtual meetings run really well and our attendance figures for meetings are significantly higher than they were when they were face-to-face. We have far fewer substitutions having to be made. And if people are on holiday as one was yesterday, attended a meeting from Devon. Another chap attended a meeting from Malta. It's just not a problem virtually.
David Elkin, Chairman
I guess people get elected because they really want to make a difference in their communities and that is a good reason it's probably one of the best reasons. But I don't think you can ever imagine how much work can come on the back of that.
Colin Belsey – Councillor
Some people said originally you'll never get that done you know. You won't get them to reduce the speed limit on that road. And we have. It took years but we got there and I think there's a real sense of achievement when you can do that.
Carolyn Lambert - Councillor
Getting the tree policy scrutinised was an important piece of work and something that I wouldn't have been able to get done without the support of residents. And I think it's a good example of how you have to work in partnership and listen carefully to what people are telling you because you don't know everything. And you do have opportunities as a councillor to scrutinise and change things.
Ruth O’Keeffe – Councillor
The whole council agreed to pass the motion on Fair Trade and agreed that in principle they'd like East Sussex to be a Fair Trade county. And I thought ‘wow I did that. If I hadn't been there that wouldn't have happened’.
Godfrey Daniel – Councillor
I think each of us help in our own communities to advocate for improvements and we can do that in a small scale. But we're also part of a whole and in the end the county council makes decisions based on its 50 members. And we have a voice, we need to stand up and be heard and hopefully at times people will listen.