I suppose it's becoming a habit: relying on the internet to supply most of the answers we want. The local reference library is excellent, but on a Bank Holiday weekend and up against a publishing deadline it is just not a viable resource.
What I wanted to know was neither nerdy, nor obscure. If it had been, perhaps I would have had better luck. All I needed was the name of the current Mayor of Kempston Town Council. I searched in vain.
Had I wished to construct some explosive device I am told the information is readily available.
Had I been stuck for the names of the 1966 England World Cup squad, Google has 577,000 pages on it.
But there is nothing about the current Town Mayor of Kempston.
I can tell you who the Town Mayor of Kempston was in 2006: Councillor S Oliver.
And had I wanted the Town Mayor of Harpenden there would not have been a problem. They even have a "How to invite the Town Mayor" page on their website.
Camberwick Green is on YouTube. But not Kempston.
Why is information about Kempston, that one might reasonably expect to be in the public domain and easily available, kept such a closely guarded secret?
If one is working hard on behalf of the local community surely it would pay to have that fact more widely known? Councillors are not the best rewarded people and local government is not the most glamorous of occupations. At least one could take the opportunity to polish one's profile in such circumstances.
Can the real, current and living Town Mayor of Kempston step forward and take a bow, please?
