THANK YOU

ELECTION FEVER

Most of you will know by now that I was not re elected last Thursday and I would be lying if I said that I was not really upset about it, however, I noticed from the results that we VERY close to getting two Labour members elected and this will be our goal the next time round whether or not I am the other candidate time will tell!

I wanted to take this time to thank all of you have sent messages of good luck and best wishes including some of my opposition who have been extremely kind. I have been honoured to be the last Councillor for the Seedhill ward on the Council and I hope that I have made a difference to the people that matter, my ex constituents, don't worry though I will be keeping in touch and I hope that you will all too.

Thanks must also go to my Labour colleagues who have been fantastic, Cllr Tommy Williams, Wendy Alexander MSP and Irene Adams to name but a few have been very supportive and I am honoured to call them my colleagues and friends.

SUCCESS

GRAFFITI NO MORE

You will see from the photos below that the Scottish Power people have been out and repainted the Sub Station at the East End Park, they had advised me (as you will see from previous posts) that it can take up to three weeks for the work to be carried out but I am delighted to advise that the work is now finished.

A huge thanks to the gentleman at Scottish Power who helped do this and I have sent photos of the graffiti free sub station to the local community police to ask that they log this.

I have been informed that there have been two people charged with vandalism for graffiti offenses in the last couple of months in Seedhill so we are winning.

COUNCILLOR RAYLEEN KELLY

NICE SURPRISE

Tonight was the last surgery held for the Seedhill ward in Renfrewshire Council, you can't help but be struck by the enormity of the changes coming into effect on the 3rd of May. The surgery was quiet, it is normally but, it gives you a chance to catch up on correspondence and papers that you should read etc. Tonight only two visitors, the first to say thank you for helping with an issue which is always lovely and I thank the individual in person for their kind sentiments, the second was an ongoing issue which I was able to get sorted this afternoon.

So to those who have been at my surgeries over the last four years I wanted to say thank you, no doubt the surgery arrangements will change post May but if re-elected I hope to improve on them, many ideas and more are welcome.

LABOUR'S PROMISE

MANIFESTO

Today saw the launch of the Labour Party's national manifesto putting Education, Community Safety and Regeneration of Town Centres at the heart of our promises to the electorate.

• Making Scottish Education 'the best in the world by 2020'
• Make leaving school at 16 and 17 conditional on those people staying in education, training or full-time volunteering.
• Expand free education for three to five-year-olds.
• Expand the Project Scotland youth volunteering scheme and create a programme for older people.
• Give children access to language tuition from Primary three onwards.
• Discipline code to set out rights and responsibilities of teachers, parents and pupils and legislate to give head teachers the authority to exclude pupils.
• Double the number of community wardens to more than 1,000 and expand environmental wardens.
• New police powers to tackle serious and organised crime, gangland criminals and take advantage of new technology.
• Establish town centre trusts, with legal powers to initiate compulsory purchase orders.
• Invest an initial £50m into a community fund for turning round town centres and attract further public and private funding.
• National helpline for older people.
• Improve support for victims of crime

The above are simply a sample of the promises that the Labour Party are making to the electorate, if you want to know more click on the title above and it will take you to the full manifesto.

Labour have delivered for our communities and with a Labour Administration in Renfrewshire Council and a Labour controlled Scottish Executive we will continue to deliver.

VOTE KELLY, VOTE SHARKEY, VOTE ALEXANDER

VOTE LABOUR

MAY 3RD

COUNCILLOR RAYLEEN KELLY

NO VOTE, NO VOICE

Campaigning is going well and the election is well under way but both Jim Sharkey and myself are reminded doing the rounds that unfortunately in 2003 there were some voters who lost their vote because they had forgotten to send back their forms, so if you were one of them remember you have until the 18th of April 2007 to register to vote.

Click on the title 'Councillor Rayleen Kelly' above and it will take you to the electoral registration form, it gives you the address to send the form back to ...

The Electoral Registration Officer

Renfrewshire Joint Valuation Board

16 Glasgow Road

Paisley

PA1 3QF

Get on the register and use your voice,

Vote Labour on May the 3rd!

LIB DEMS WOULD RATHER HAVE A 'PUB' THAN FOOTBALL PARKS

Paisley East and Ralston blog has an interesting article on the current situation with the Liberal Democrats and St Mirren over the Penilee pavilion, worth a look (I would say that being one of the candidates!) I have digested the post here...

The Lib-Dem councillor for Ralston would rather see what amounts to a pub being built at Penilee Playing Fields instead of a football academy for youngsters and a training facility for St Mirren. Jim Sharkey, who is secretary of Ralston Community Council and whose house looks on to the playing fields was speaking after he attended a public meeting called by Lib-Dem Councillor Nan Macgregor who opposes plans to redevelop the derelict playing fields and pavilion.

Mr Sharkey, who will be one of two Labour candidates in Ralston and Paisley East in the council elections in May, said:

"Councillor MacGregor told the public meeting she would rather the playing fields be given over to a local rugby club who had previously proposed building a licensed clubhouse beside the pitches and licensed premises is something the vast majority of people in Ralston don’t want to see there."I have been knocking on doors and the message I have been getting is that people just want something positive to happen to the Penilee Playing Fields as the place has been derelict for years. This is exactly what is being proposed."

COUNCILLOR RAYLEEN KELLY

DISABLED PARKING BAYS

I am writing on this issue again in order to ask for the co-operation of the community, there are lots of people locally who suffer from a physical disability and the parking bays allocated to them by the Council allow them the freedom to work, to shop and use leisure facilities.

So please if you have not been allocated the space, do not use it, respect the needs of those in your community please.

COUNCILLOR RAYLEEN KELLY

BEWARE THE BOGEYMAN

(Jim Sharkey and Cllr Rayleen Kelly at the 'Beware of the Bogeyman event, Paisley Town Hall)

This morning in Paisley Town Hall there is an event organised by the Police on Bogus Callers, arranged for the elderly in the community and vulnerable groups there was an excellent turn out, including Jim Sharkey (my running mate in the May Elections) the Secretary of Ralston Community Council. Also present were Douglas Alexander MP Secretary of State for Scotland and Wendy Alexander MSP for Paisley North, both were warmly received and it was good to see our elected representatives involved in the community.

The title of this article is the title of the campaign, Reid Kerr College students put on an excellent piece of drama showing the dangers and the approaches that the con men and women use.

To often we think of the Bogus Caller as a young male in work gear but they can take all shapes and sizes as the students drama piece pointed out. Unfortunately I had to leave early as I had a Community Health Partnership Development session to attend but, what I did see I was really impressed with, congratulations go to the Police for the organisation and all of the exhibitors and actors involved.

JIM SHARKEY FOR

PAISLEY EAST AND RALSTON

Many of the readers of this blog may already know Jim Sharkey as he is currently involved with the Ralston Community Council. He is an active member of the Ralston Community and the Paisley North CLP, he presently works for a Local Authority and has been a key player in enhancing the knowledge and understanding of the Single Transferable Vote system to be used in the May Elections. As the information on my updated profile shows he is my running mate for the Paisley East and Ralston seat in the election in May.

Jim currently works as a researcher for a local council and lives in Ralston with his wife, two children. He is secretary of Ralston Community Council and has previously served as a local authority councillor. Jim is committed to delivering peaceful neighbourhoods, improving standards in housing, roads and education.