Serving on council is sharp learning curve
It has been a bit of a whirlwind year for me, and possibly a bit surreal at times.
In January 2021 I decided to put myself forward for the May council elections, but that was interrupted by the escalation of war in Ukraine in February.
Having been involved for many years with supporting orphanage children in the city of Dnipro, I found myself thrown into the media spotlight as I travelled into the war-torn country to evacuate 50 children.
Trips to Ukraine and Poland followed to get the children to safety, and then to London to try to secure visas to get them to Scotland.
I was lucky enough to secure enough votes to become an elected member, and it was amazing to receive the news
Thankfully, after weeks of fighting various levels of bureaucracy, the children arrived safely in Scotland and I could then get back to my council election campaigning.
I was lucky enough to secure enough votes to become an elected member, and it was amazing to receive the news at the count at the Dewars Centre on May 6.
As an alarm engineer who has covered many areas of Perthshire over the last 30 years, I felt privileged to have been chosen to represent the Strathallan area.
I moved to Methven when I started my business up 31 years ago, and often spend time travelling back roads between Methven, Auchterarder and Crieff so know the area pretty well.
In my business life I’ve always thrived on providing the best customer service that I can, and I’m committed to adopting the same attitude in the council.
I have to admit it’s a very sharp learning curve, and it’s certainly taking up a lot more of my time than I’d bargained for, but I am enjoying it.
One of the really satisfying things with being a councillor is when you can
take on a local issue and get a positive outcome.
During campaigning for the election I had a few issues highlighted, and one that stuck with me was an issue with a missing street sign that was causing problems for deliveries.
My very first enquiry as a new councillor was how I could get a new street sign installed and, within a couple of weeks, Croft Terrace in Dunning had
its new road sign and residents are hopefully now getting their Amazon deliveries trouble-free.
As well as throwing myself into local issues I’ve also taken on the viceconvener role within Learning and Families, which will hopefully see me involved further afield with some excellent projects in the pipeline.
Have a good new year and an amazing 2023.