The main business of last Tuesday’s town council meeting was undoubtedly the deliberation about and co-option of new councillors. There were two vacancies and three candidates: Jane Conlin, Jonathan Dellar and Sue Learoyd-Smith. Each of them was given three minutes to speak to their application, after which they had to answer three questions.
Following an informal vote by the 13 councillors present, the result was announced: Sue Learoyd-Smith gained seven votes in the first round ballot, a clear winner. The two remaining candidates were entered in the second round, from which Jane Conlin emerged victorious. These two were duly elected, subject to formal ratification at the mayor-making ceremony which is to take place on Monday, May 2.
Each candidate had shown examples of their service to the community in diverse ways. Then each framed their response to the three questions:
- How would you go about regularly engaging with the electorate in order to represent their views to the council?
- What powers or influence would you like to see the council make use of in order to serve the electorate?
- If you had one wish or aspiration for Rye, what would it be?
The responses to the second and third question were varied. One candidate wished to see greater autonomy from the district council and the encouragement of local businesses. Other issues identified ranged from the greater provision of social housing, and the more frequent emptying of street litter bins. All were agreed that tourism was vital to the life of the town and that maintaining its beauty was a high priority.
