Me too?

Apparently quite a lot of people are considering standing for Council at next year’s General Election.  Younger people.  People with a vision for how St Helena should be run.  People who, in my (and, I suspect, most of the electorate’s) estimation, would be good Councillors, committed to doing good things for the island.  And I gather there is only one big thing holding them back.

They don’t, in the words of one, want to be “A lone voice in a sea of dickheads”.

They fear that if they stand and are elected, but find themselves on Council with the current “Old Guard” incumbents, they will be bullied and harassed by these dead-heads until they leave, as has happened in recent years to other younger, brighter Councillors.

I understand their fear.  It is an entirely realistic scenario.  It has happened before.

Only if we can get enough of these younger, more competent people to put their names into the ring so that progressive and motivated Councillors can form a majority can we have any hope of electing a more forward-thinking Council, committed to serving the needs of the people of St Helena rather than just doing what the officials tell them to do while feathering their own nests.

(For the avoidance of doubt, I don’t believe all our current councillors to be lazy, incompetent or border-line corrupt).

So how do we get these people to declare themselves so that others with the same motivations can see them and think “Yes, me too...”?

If I knew the answer I would not be asking the question.

(And, also for the avoidance of doubt - - - I’m not one of them.)