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The local elections have never been more important.

Time for better services, less wasting of public money

and less national scandals.

Dear fellow local resident,

I am privileged to have been asked to

stand as your local independent

candidate.

People died for the right to vote yet local

elections bring out in many of us a torpid

state of abject boredom with underlying

symptoms of resigned apathy.

A periodic plethora of party politicians

pressing the flesh, peppering us with

their pamphlets and promising anything

that they perceive may prove popular.

Pretending things are perfect and

blaming one (or all) of the other parties

for anything that went slightly or even

catastrophically wrong.

All this for a few years of power during

which a number forget that they were

actually elected to represent the peopleof Edinburgh, to ensure the best value

delivery of a variety of important

services to our communityand to havea quality of vision

commensurate with the local,

national and international

standing and aspirations of our

wonderful Capital City.

As your elected Councillor, I

promise to represent and serve

the best interests of Southside/

Newington, to listen to your

local concerns, to share a vision

for this great City of ours and tobe your voice in the Council.

To do this, I need your help.

Please take a look through

this election newsletter and

if it ticks the boxes for you

then please put a 1 in mybox on 3rd May.

Thank you & kind regards

Gordon MurdieGordon MurdieGordon MurdieAs seen on the documentary Scotlands Property Scandal

Yourfirst choice independent candidate on 3rd May 2012

A brief personal backgroundreal life experience, not politics

Are you thinking what Im

thinkingnot good enough?

Forget, for a moment, about the national andlocal scandals which have brought shame andembarrassment upon Edinburgh. Ignoremeantime the eyewatering amount of yourmoney which is squandered. Surely thisadministration at least delivers basic serviceswell? Well no, actually. You probably wontsee this in any party political electioneering

pamphlet but these are the sad facts on how

we compare within 10 Scottish UrbanCouncils.

I grew up in the Southside(Rankei l lor Street thenHallhead Road) and movedback here to Mayfield Road in2010.

Educated at Daniel StewartsCollege (19601973) Icommenced a career inQuantity Surveying.

In the 1980s, my sons Davidand Douglas were born. Davidhas graduated in Psychology(Aberdeen) and Douglas inMedicine (Edinburgh) - If I amelected to serve on Edinburgh

Council, I shall need themboth!

Professionally, I have servedthe Royal Institution ofChartered Surveyors (RICS) asChairman of the Scottish Junior

B r a n c h , C h a i r m a n o f Edinburgh & South EastScotland, Chairman of anAssessment of ProfessionalCompetence Panel (more oncompetence later!).

In my day job I have worked onmulti-million projectsBankHeadquarters, a submarinebase and the internationalaward winning restoration ofStanley Mills, Perthshire forHistoric Scotland and HRH ThePrince of Wales Phoenix Trust

Nowadays, I am largely

involved in contract disputeresolut ion, ad jud icat ion,arbitration and expert witnessworkas well as helping manyhundreds of Edinburgh citizenswhose lives have been sodeeply affected by thedisgraceful Statutory NoticesScandal.

JulySeptember 2011 I was

working on a building contractdispute against City ofEdinburgh Council and theBBC called.

Would I be prepared to givemy expert opinion onStatutory Notice Works? -Scotlands Property Scandal

was duly screened. It made mewonder what other feckless

and costly bungling wasgoing on.

Then the BBC screened TheGreat Tram Disaster. Howdeeply embarrassing for

Edinburgha laughingstock rather than a rolling

stock. How sad.

Theres even more hapless,incompetent bungling too..

You r money is bei ngh a e m o r r h a g e d b yinstitutional ineptitude and

petty party politics.

I fail to understand whatpossible relevant role nationalparty political intransigencieshave to offer in running our

Capital city you will seeoverleaf where no less thanFIVE political parties andtheir 58 representatives have

got us.

We simply wish a clean,enjoyable, considerate, safe

and caring place tolive, the nurturingand education ofour young, the careof our elderly,f a c i l i t i e s f o r recreat ion andleisure, ready help

for those in needand the binsemptied.

What is political aboutthat?

Rather than moanabout it or stand forit, I am standing for

election.

Picture:

Edinburghs

(other) Disgrace

Statutory Performance Indicators

on Basic Services Source:Annual Performance Report 2010/11published by City of EdinburghCouncil. Graph independentlyprepared (10 points for 1st placereducing to 1 point for last (10th) place

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Delivery of Basic Services

Perfect Council

Average Council

City of Edinburgh

Council

Gordon Murdie for Southside/Newington

Follow me @GordonMurdie

call 07985 416860

gmdesk@live.co.uk

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Gordon MurdieGordon MurdieGordon MurdieAs seen on the documentary Scotlands Property Scandal

Yourfirst choice independent candidate on 3rd May 2012

Bottled water

Edinburgh City Councilspent 174,050 on waterfrom several different firms,blaming antiquatedpipework in old buildings forthe bill

Leisure wear

Last year Edinburgh Councilsparked fury after spending a

quarter of a million onnew tracksuits, polo shirtsand suits for staff atEdinburgh leisure centres.

And days out

The council was also

slammed for blowing 6,500on team-building sessions,

including a treasure hunt and

2,500 on a trip to anoutdoor centre.

Privatisation debatecost council 4m

Councillors have facedcriticism for spending three

years and nearly 4 millionon plans to privatise a batchof council services only tothrow out the proposals andkeep them in-house instead.(privatisation would havesaved over 140m oftaxpayers money.)

Repairs scandal tocost Capital 30million (a story that ourlocal paper first broke wellbefore the BBC)TAXPAYERS have been

left with a bill of more than30 million as a result ofthe citys property repairsscandal the Evening Newscan reveal. A spokesmanadded that the 30m would

be managed in thesame way as other baddebts at the council.

Dear Elector

This page shines a light on where 5 political parties have left ourCity of Edinburgh as the elections on 3rd of May rapidly approach.You probably do not have the time and I certainly do not have thespace to set down each and every piece of feckless bungling. Who, intheir right mind, would vote along party lines to spend 4 millionpounds of CouncilTaxpayers money for a study into somethingthat they had no intention of seeing through? That biblicalincompetence and chronic misguided party political drivenwastefulness means that the entire population of Hallhead Road(where I grew up) will be paying their Council Tax for the next 60years just to fund that particular piece of party political

shenanigansthis is unacceptable.

I forecast that the Statutory Notice scandal will have a true cost to taxpayers, by the time things are even nearlyresolved, of no less than 200 million. Thats Hallhead Road paying all its Council Tax for another 3,000 years

just for the incompetent scandal. Dear former neighbours, dont think of movingthe whole of Edinburgh will be sharing that bill with you too.

Let me skip gently past nursery school c losures, Leith Waterworld, Blindcraft, the Trams fiasco, the Statutory Notices scanda l, national embarrassment,

1.3m (and rising) spent collecting & transporting an average of 2 ounces (per house per day) of burnt toast from little bins, a bike shelter, 13 millionpounds wasted when the ability to resolve a simple bin strike was not on tap, 20mph signs passing as an actual cycleway to r ival Amsterdam, doublingthe cost of disabled parking badges, published suggestions to make up for wasted money by impounding more cars!!!! Attempts to run a creaking andsub-standard care for the elderly service at a profit tooit really wasnt good enough.

Beware, they all want to do it to us all over again!!!!

Your four sitting Councillors, representing

their National political parties, say

Your local independent saysLabour; Councillor Ian Perry says

Lets move Edinburgh forward

Edinburgh needs to invest in its future

I have helped over 650 people in the last 5 years

2007; 2,530 votes

Independent; Probably just catchy words. I am all formoving Edinburgh forward despite the

financially handicapped start left by the outgoing administration. Much better than continuing to

move Edinburgh backwards after all. Investing in the future is a nice line. I would achieve that

by eradicating waste through common sense and good housekeepingand also having a

vision of a future for everyone rather than using Council Taxpayers money for treasure

hunts.

I have helped more than 650 people in the last 6 months alone! Not only Statutory Notice

victims but people struggling with Housing Benefit calculations, repossession, eviction,

aggressive doorstep contracts with the elderly and more. And Im not even a Councillor.

Scottish Green Party; Councillor Steve Burgess

says

Five point well-being plan for a fuller life

Greens demand a clearer view of all Council projects

2007; 1,920 votes

Independent; Yes, once basic needs are met we can lead happier lives. Anyway, back to

election matters.

There were three Green Party councillors during the last termI hope that they had a perfectly

clear view of what was going on for all these years. If they didnt, they should have!

Conservative; Councillor Cameron Rose

Massive waste at City Council

2 Lib Dem Councillors either voted against the

proposed savings or did not support both tranches

2007; 2,516 votes

Independent; I agree that there was eyewatering waste. Enough polo shirts and track suits

bought with Council Taxpayers money to keep FC Barcelona happy.

It really isnt fair to blame another political partythe citizens rather hoped that the 58

Councillors were looking after them and not a party. Anyway, the Conservatives had a band

of 13 Councillorsmore than plenty for an informed debate.

Lib Dem; Councillor Gordon Mackenzie

Transport Leader responsible for the Trams, ex

social worker?, former Board Member of the disbanded

TIE

2007; 2,304 votes

Independent; Would have been nice to have given the residents of Edinburgh a vote on this.

Probably a little disappointed at the bankrupted businesses in Leith walk, shame that were only

getting a third of the line for twice the price, everyones probably over-ordered trams at some

point in their glittering career. Dont worry that we could have had a complete tram line on budget

or paved the streets with gold for lessits OK. Great idea to look at bike hiremuch less to go

wrong. Are the Edinburgh residents even now paying for a 2m annual maintenance contract on

the, for want of a better term, rolling stock?

I fail to understand what

possible relevant role

national party political

intransigencies have to offer

in running our Capital city

We simply wish a clean,enjoyable, considerate, safeand caring place to live, thenurturing and education ofour young, the care of oure lder ly , fac i l i t ies for recreation and leisure, readyhelp for those in needandthe bins emptied.

What is political aboutthat?

GORDONMURDIEIndependent

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Mychoice

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Mychoic

e

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The very approachable Gordon Murdielistened to our predicament, quickly got to theroot of our problem and alleviated our concerns.With a mixture of expertise and humour heensured that a very negative conflict situation

was resolved with a positive outcome What isparty political about that?

Gordon is a detail orientated manager who watches the balance sheet like a hawk. He is also a very approachable,

decent sort of bloke! What is party political about that?

Gordon did exactly what he said hewould and got us out of a very bad place

What is party political about that?

Make things go your way on 3rd MayI will not let you down

Produced (singlehandedly) by Gordon Murdie,

166 Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3AR