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Watford
Biography of Mayor Dorothy Thornhill
Dorothy Thornhill has been Watford Executive Mayor since May
2002 and was re-elected in May 2006. One of twelve elected
mayors she was the first Elected Mayor of Watford; the first
female Mayor; the first Liberal Democrat Mayor; and the
first mayor to be re-elected with over 50% of first
preference votes.
Before her election she worked for 25 years as a teacher of
students with Special needs in local schools, most recently
as Assistant Head of Queens School, Bushey the largest
comprehensive school in Hertfordshire.
Born in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, she grew up in Preston,
Lancashire and moved south to train as a teacher, taking a
Batchelor’s and then a Master’s Degree in Education.
She lives near to Watford town centre with her husband and
two children.
Dorothy took control of a local authority that was described
by the Audit Commission in 2002 as one of the worst
performing districts in England. Its accounts were
disclaimed by the District Auditor and its services were
ranked amongst the most expensive in the country.
Dorothy served as a councillor for Oxhey ward for 10 years
and was Civic Mayor of Watford in 1998/99. During her period
as a councillor, she was involved in many local campaigns,
including fighting to save the fast train service from
Bushey Station to London Euston.
In her four years as Mayor she has sought to improve
services provided by the Council, strengthen its management
and make it a more efficient organisation, focused on
serving the citizens of the town. Particular achievements
include: setting the lowest council tax increase in
Hertfordshire for four years running, introducing doorstep
recycling collection across the town and working with the
West Herts NHS Trust to secure the future of Watford General
Hospital. She is also proud that the Council has sorted out
its financial systems and now has a clean bill of health for
its accounts.
In its recent CPA report, the Audit Commission recognised
that ‘the pace of change and improvement they (WBC) have
made is significant and Watford Borough Council is a council
on the move.’
As Mayor, Dorothy has developed an open and accessible
style, dealing directly with several hundred emails a week
from members of the public, visiting local community groups,
and holding consultation meetings with regard to her budget.
She sees the role of Mayor as being the representative of
the community in the Town Hall and confesses that she is the
Council’s ‘toughest critic’ in seeking improved services for
local residents.
She sees the main future challenges as trying to create a
family-friendly town centre, improving the Council’s leisure
facilities and making sure the Council plays its part in
delivering a new state-of-the-art hospital for Watford.
In her limited spare time, Dorothy enjoys reading, watching
rugby and football and visiting old churches. She is an avid
viewer of Coronation Street. She serves as an Honorary
Vice-President of Watford Football Club.
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Last updated:
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Copyright 2006 |
Jason Thomas Williams |
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