Marden's Missing Councillors - World Media comment

http://www.theage.com.au/oddspot/ Thursday August 28, 2003
A councillor in Kent is doing her council work from Bermuda. Annabelle Blackmore was elected to Maidstone Council in May, but
moved three weeks later. She says she can be contacted by email, fax or phone and she's offered to pay for calling electors
from Bermuda
www.canadalawbook.com/news - today's legal news
Annabelle Blackmore, an elected conservative councillor from the Kent ward of Marden and Yalden, moved to Bermuda three
weeks after winning her seat. That has angered some local residents who question her effectiveness while "lazing on a beach
thousands of miles away." But rules only require candidates to be residents in the area they are running in during the election.
After that they can live where they choose, providing they attend a council meeting at least once every six months.
The World of B S Pyle web site
The 11 Democrat senators continue to play hide and seek with Governor Rick Perry in order to deprive the Texas State
Legislature of a quorum during the Summer special session. They have vowed to prevent the Republican majority from
redrawing voting district lines in such a way that would put more Republicans in Washington. To accomplish this the Democrats
holed up in Albuquerque, New Mexico for weeks, and as I write this, they are still there even though the special session is at an
end.

They had planned to return to Texas and attend a hearing in Laredo federal court regarding a suit they have filed against the
Governor. However, according to the Austin American Statesman, they think they have received “credible intelligence” that Perry
planned to have them arrested and detained while he called another special session.
 
Moveon.org, a group of bleeding heart liberals founded by a pair of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs on the Internet, has raised
about $1 million with which to run a series of print, radio and TV ads in support of the Texas Eleven. And so the drama
continues.
 
The errant senators should take a cue from a lady named Annabelle Blackmore of the United Kingdom. According to The
London Times, Mrs. Blackmore, of the Conservative Party, was elected to Maidstone Borough Council in May for the Marden and
Yalden ward. Three weeks afterwards she moved to Bermuda where her husband is a financial consultant. She has been keeping
in touch with the villagers she represents via email, fax or telephone since. Now and then she flies back Merrie Old England to
attend council meetings. She has even offered to bear the costs of these long-distance contacts herself as long as she can stay
in Bermuda.
 
The reason she is able to pull this off is because, even though the law says anyone running for the office she holds must be a
resident of her ward, there is no law that compels her to continue being a resident once she assumes office.
 
So, instead of sweltering away in New Mexico, the Texas senators could be lying on the beach in Bermuda sipping Piña Coladas,
if they were as smart as Mrs. Blackmore. This could serve two purposes, as far as I am concerned: It not only would get them
out of Texas, but out of the country. Perhaps they would like it so much they would never come back.
ananova
Kent councillor represents electors from Bermuda

A Conservative councillor in Kent is conducting her council business from Bermuda after moving there.

Annabelle Blackmore was elected to Maidstone Borough Council in May for the Marden and Yalden ward, but moved three weeks
later.

She says villagers can contact her by email, fax or telephone and she's offered to bear the cost of calling electors from
Bermuda, where her husband is a financial consultant.
But she said she had no idea whether the local library offered internet access for those who didn't have it at home.

Mrs Blackmore says she has no intention of claiming expenses from the council and said she'd return to Kent every few months
to attend council meetings and meet electors.
However local residents in Marden are said not to be pleased with the situation. One wrote a message on the Marden Online
website asking how electors could talk to their democratic representative if she is "lazing on a beach thousands of miles away."

Mrs Blackmore has also contributed to the website, writing: "Although currently absent, it is wonderful to be able to follow the
events of home on the website and to be certain that life in the beautiful village of Marden continues along its merry path with
those ups and downs that give the village life such a rich fabric."
She does, however, add she intends to write "a strongly worded letter" to the council on a proposed site for a telephone mast,
says The Times.

Under local government rules, council candidates must be resident in the area they are standing for during the election, but
there is no requirement for them to stay once they are elected, providing they attend at least one council meeting every six
months.
Eric Hotson, the Conservative leader on the council, said he had received no formal complaints about Mrs Blackmore's decision.

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