Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The Chosen 2,300 - are you one of them?

We have a wee gurn reaching us today. It seems Highland Council have sent out invitations to 14,000 people in the hope of finding 2,300 that would be willing to take part in a 'Highland Citizens' Panel.' Now one Gurnite is asking just how do you pick 14,000 people at random? Is a computer program used or is there a National Lottery type machine in the bowels of Glenurquhart Road? Our correspondent asks: 'Are they in effect unpaid consultants or a safety valve for THC 'we consulted our citizens in this matter' so it wasn't us who made this dreadful decision?'
You can see the Highland Council press release here. The Gurn wonders if this system is foolproof, what if some of these folk were to make themselves known to councillors or politicians or other groups etc, could the consultation process be thus influenced by lobbying?

1 comment:

Power to the people said...

Are our Highland Councillors living in such lofty ivory towers that they feel that the only way to reach the common man/woman in the street is through a survey such as this?

I had thought that we voted for our council and by doing so have faith in them to look after our affairs for the period of their election?

Have our councillors found themselves with rubber knees to the extent that they not only need the advice of numerous consultants but now also from the general public before they can take action on anything?

As highlighted by the Gurn what is the process by which random members of the public have been chosen? And how was this number reached?

I’m all for democracy and even the occasional referendum but this is our money being used to find out the opinion of the few, and what notice will THC take of this opinion?

I would urge Highland Councillors to come and talk to us the people rather than engage in this half-hearted consultation (how about regular councillor input to the Gurn?)