Only six days after being elected a Conservative district councillor for Market Rasen and surrounding villages, Burt Keimach was last night, Wednesday, elected Town Mayor.


The 64-year-old from Gordon Field has lived here for eight years, retiring to Market Rasen after discovering the warmth and friendliness of its people.


He is looking to focus his fund-raising energies on a charity for the blind and will follow his predecessor - and now deputy - Guy Grainger in eschewing the chain gang civic functions in favour of putting his allowance into charitable causes.


A 30 year career in journalism spanned periods with various American newspapers, radio stations, wire services, time in the Middle East and London, handling press relations for many companies and he has become fluent in Hebrew and French after living in Israel and France.


His mission for the council is to make it more open and transparent and he is keen to boost involvement and ideas from townsfolk.


"I want to give an open invitation to people to come to meetings, come into the office and stop me in the street to squawk, praise and suggest. I'm going to make sure that as a council we listen and as much as the law allows we will be telling people what we are doing in their name and on their behalf," he said.


He thanked the council for its vote of confidence in him - his nomination being the only one and supported by all councillors except defeated district council rival David Kitchen - and pledged 'to do my best to progress the business of this town council in a spirit of openness and with more public participation'.


Projects in mind include further improvements at the Festival Hall to get its finances on an even keel, continued work on the play areas, delivery of the BMX track, wrestling the funds from the Tesco and Linwood Chase planning gain, greater CCTV efficiency and realisation of the alcohol free zone that had been 'stymied for reasons I don't fully understand'.


He also thanked Coun Grainger for the 'exceptional amount of work' he had done in sorting out the council's finances and processes in the absence of the town clerk, pushing forward the old police station refurbishment and in 'conquering the demons and trolls' in the Festival Hall heating system .




* What's your view on having an American at the head of the town council ?

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