Author: Deborah Castellanos
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Reporting a Pothole So It Gets Fixed
I remember sitting in a drafty community hall in 1994, listening to a local councillor explain that the only way to fix our broken street lighting was to file a formal, multi-page petition and wait for a sub-committee review. It… Continue reading
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Posting About an Event Without Annoying People
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall three years ago, staring at a stack of printed flyers that looked like they’d been through a hedge backwards, wondering why nobody had turned up for our street garden launch. We had… Continue reading
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What a Trustee Is Actually Responsible for
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall back in ’94, watching a perfectly good neighbourhood garden project fall apart simply because nobody understood the legalities of who actually held the keys. People often think that learning how to become… Continue reading
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Writing History Without Footnote Fatigue
I spent thirty years in local government, and if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that nobody wants to read a dusty, academic tome that reads like a tax audit. I once sat through a three-hour presentation by a… Continue reading
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Researching a School Beyond the League Table
I remember sitting in a drafty community hall during my final year in local government, listening to a frantic parent explain how she’d spent three weeks scouring glossy, high-budget school brochures only to realize the “state-of-the-art facilities” were actually just… Continue reading
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Finding Out Who Owns the Field
I remember sitting in a drafty community hall back in ’94, watching a group of lovely, well-meaning neighbors lose three months of fundraising because they spent their entire budget on a “professional consultant” to tell them what was already public… Continue reading
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Nominating the Pub as a Community Asset
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall three years ago, watching a group of lovely, well-meaning neighbours crumble into tears because they thought they needed a legal team and a massive grant just to save the corner shop. They… Continue reading
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Testing a Story Everyone Repeats
I remember sitting in a draughty village hall back in ’94, listening to a gentleman in a tweed jacket swear on his life that a hidden well behind the old tannery held the key to a lost parish endowment. Half… Continue reading
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Volunteering After a Career Ends
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall back in ’94, watching a group of well-meaning retirees crumble because they thought they needed a massive non-profit structure and a government grant just to plant some marigolds. They spent six months… Continue reading
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Who Actually Decides What Locally
People often talk about local government as if it’s this impenetrable, monolithic fortress of red tape and endless sub-committees. They make it sound so daunting that most residents don’t even bother knocking on the door, assuming they’ll just get lost… Continue reading
