Elected to serve

Oh dear, I seem to have upset Mike McDonnell of North-a-Voe. (Take your own advice; SN, 28/11/14)

I did actually think about what Mike said, and after reading his letter and considering at length the points he made, I decided not to take his advice to keep my mouth shut.

First of all, I’m not opting out of constructive discussions. That wasn’t the reason I wrote to the Shetland News. My letter was commenting on Jonathan Wills’ behaviour after the vote to keep rural schools open.

Re: Council savings – I would be glad to suggest where significant savings could be made, but unfortunately I am not an elected member or official of Shetland Islands Council, therefore I am not privy to the inner workings of the finance department and the spending on the various services throughout Shetland.

However, I do have plenty of positive and constructive ideas for developing rural areas, which is a different thing.

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Finally, I have no intention of adopting yet another acronym (the HITS squad) because I didn’t adopt one in the first place. That was Mr Wills with his SIC acronym. It wouldn’t occur to me to do anything so silly, although it has obviously occurred to Mr McDonnell.

I will continue to exercise my right to free speech, to reply, and to comment on the actions of those elected to serve.

Dorothy O’Brien
Brae