Phil Starr is currently Vice Chair of Council with re-

sponsibility for Rodell (which controls our property portfolio). He was Chair of Charter 88 at the time of the formation of UD and was jointly responsible for bringing NPN and Charter together to form UD. I hope you will support me by electing me onto Council. Once again I am standing so that I can complete the reorganisation of Rodell properties which I have been heavily involved in for the past four years. Rodell is vital to UD as it controls our property assets and so generates a substantial part of our income. Extra income from Rodell simply means more political activity for UD. Rodell has come a long way in the last few years. It is now fully integrated with UD, both financially and organisationally. It has a democratically chosen board which meets regularly and is increasingly effective. Property decisions are made by the Rodell Directors who are developing expertise but there are proper processes for feeding back decisions to Council and to take councils views into account. Partly as a result of this, and because we have improved the staffing situation, we now have better maintained buildings and improved cash flow. We are now in a good position to considerably increase our income in the next couple of years. I now want to take steps to increase our asset values for the first time in the organisations history, which will secure a more financially stable future for UD along with increased income.

This is probably an unusual appeal for votes in a political organisation but sound finances are vital to fund our campaigning and Im happy to do the boring bits. Politically my priorities are those activities that reach out to the wider public. Quiet, methodical lobbying is essential but people listen harder to us when we have public support or if decision makes feel we are in a position to affect public opinion. I will be a big supporter of any activities that enable us to reach out to the public. However I see my main role as ensuring we have the best possible resources to campaign whatever direction we decide upon. I am married with two children and live in Somerset. In a varied career I have worked in the electronics industry, became a science teacher and then a property developer. Politically I have been involved many single issue campaigns, mainly about youth issues and the health service before becoming a councillor in Reading, eventually chairing the Community Development Committee and briefly Social Services For Reading Borough Council. I have been actively campaigning on Democratic issues since 1990 and as the then Chair of Charter88 took a major role in setting up Unlock Democracy as a stable campaigning organisation, probably one of the best things I have done. Please feel free to contact me phil.starr@tesco.net 01460 221594 (evenings are best)