Barrow council stalwart steps down
Last updated at 10:06, Monday, 18 March 2013
A COUNCIL stalwart has announced that he is stepping away from the local political scene.
Councillor Jim Hamezeian, who represents Ormsgill on Cumbria County Council, will not be standing for re-election in May for personal reasons.
He broke the news that he would be ending his 18 year political career to the members of his party, the People’s Party, at an emergency meeting.
In an interview with the Evening Mail, Cllr Hamezeian, who is renowned as a passionate community campaigner, said stepping away from the council had been a difficult decision.
He said: “It is for personal reasons and nothing else. My mother back in Iran is very poorly and I have been going to see her.
“I have come to the realisation that this is the time for me to leave local politics.”
Cllr Hamezeian, who moved to Barrow in 1975, first entered politics in the 1990s to lead the fight against the poll tax and was elected as a councillor in 1995.
He first stood as a Labour candidate but formed the People’s Party after resigning over a dispute about the sacking of council cleaners. In 1997, he sourced and distributed 26 tonnes of food to those in poverty in Barrow.
Cllr Hamezeian has regularly rallied members of the public to help clean up Ormsgill reservoir and along with his wife Rose, a former Barrow mayor, led the fight to keep Barrow’s maternity unit open in 2006.
A passionate anti-war campaigner, the former amateur boxer has promoted multi-culturalism in the town, and faced discrimination himself in 2007 when BNP candidate Mike Ashburner claimed he should not stand for election due to his Iranian heritage.
More recently, he was involved in the funding push to convert the former Ormsgill Library into a youth centre.
Despite being regarded as a firebrand, Cllr Hamezeian said he bore no grudges with those he had disagreed with over the years. He said: “I would like to thank the people of Ormsgill and Barrow as well, for being so absolutely supportive.
“I would also like to wish all my political opponents all the best and hope they continue supporting the community they represent.”
Cllr Hamezeian added that he will continue to live in Barrow as it has become his home town and that he has always found the people of the town friendly and responsive to the work that he has carried out with them.
First published at 15:35, Sunday, 17 March 2013
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
Have your say
I and many others do appreciate the hard work and committment Jim has given to the local community. At times which ever political persuasion you have Jim has brought common sense into issues close to the communities heart. A big thankyou
Posted by watching on 18 March 2013 at 12:29