Sitting at her desk one day, the sound of an almighty scream pierced the ordinary working day of one council chief executive. There were two options for them when she heard this noise – run away or race towards the source of the sound.
After choosing the latter option, what she found was a woman who had grown so frustrated with the council’s handling of a rat problem over a number of years that she was attempting to throw herself off the building’s indoor balcony into the atrium below.
The chief executive, who recounted the anecdote to a round table hosted by The MJ and Marston Holdings, spent the next 20 minutes listening to the woman and her long-running issues with her council. ‘We’ve got to remind ourselves [of people’s reality] in our nice cosy lives,’ she told fellow delegates.’
Want full article access?
Receive The MJ magazine each week and gain access to all the content on this website with a subscription.
Full website content includes additional, exclusive commentary and analysis on the issues affecting local government.
Already a subscriber? Login