If you want to know something - ask a Librarian

There was some talk, last week at the Plan B social, about standing for the local elections, and I started to wonder how easy it is to apply.
Most of the present town council have been there for years, so I asked the newest councillor, Johnny Kramer, how he had become a councillor. He turned out to have been co-opted, so there was never an election - so he didn't know how to apply to be a councillor himself.
Someone at the Plan B social had said that there should be a notice up at the Council Offices, telling anyone who was interested what to do. So I went along on Friday - but I couldn't see any notices that were relevant, and the Town Clerk is only in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so that didn't get me any further on.
The next idea I had was Library Plus - as the official County Council presence in Hay, surely they would have some information. So I spoke to Jayne the Librarian, and she did something clever on her computer, and there was all the information!
So, for anyone who wants to stand as a local councillor, the websites to visit are direct.gov.uk, electoralcommission.org and aboutmyvote.co.uk. There's also one called Be A Councillor, but that seems not to be up and running yet. Apparently, you need to live and/or work in the area, and have been resident for at least a year. Then you must get the nomination form to the local Returning Officer by 4th April - I think it's possible to download the nomination forms (I didn't look) or get them from the County Council.
I don't think I want to stand myself - I'm quite busy already! - but one thing I can do is to start showing up at Council meetings and reporting on what goes on, because this stuff may be boring, but it's also important.