Cllr Geoff Harrison was officially made the Deputy Mayor of the City and District of St Albans on 18th May 2011 at the Annual Council meeting.
Geoff was born 14 February 1943 in Upton, a small village famous for its Zoological gardens in Cheshire. He was educated firstly in Upton, then Ellesmere Port and finally in Wrexham.
When he left school he became an electrical engineering apprentice at Brookhirst Switchgear (later Brookhirst Igranic) and then an Application Engineer.
He moved to Wolverhampton, then Birmingham to join a large American company Square D, then to Yorkshire in 1970 to join another American company, Allen-Bradley. Later he joined a textile machinery company designing the control systems on textile dyeing and sizing machines.
Whilst in Yorkshire he was a part time National Park Ranger on the North York Moors National Park where he had the privilege of meeting Alfred Wight (James Herriot), Siegfried Farnon and Tristran Farnon on a number of occasions. He also worked for Sustrans, the cycle path charity, developing several cycle paths in Yorkshire.
Geoff moved to St Albans in 1994 to join Moira Seton and her children Rebecca, Annabelle and David. He worked for Igranic Control Systems as a Sales Engineer before being made redundant. Since then he has worked for Safeway and later Morrisons, especially enjoying working with wines. Safeway sent him on a number of courses enabling him to get the Advanced Certificate in Wines and Spirits.
Geoff has always been interested in the great outdoors and has led walking tours in his spare time in Snowdonia, the English Lake District, the Scottish Highlands, the Alps, the Tatras (Carpathian mountains) and the USA.
His political career started when he was elected as a Liberal Democrat in Cunningham Ward in 2000 at the third attempt. At St Albans City and District Council he has been involved with planning and has been Chair of Plans Central, Plans South and the Planning Referral Committee, as well as being involved with Overview and Scrutiny, licensing and licensing appeals.
He is a Trustee of the Centre for Voluntary Service (CVS), Cell Barnes Youth Project, Highfield Park, Computer Friendly and the Pioneer Youth Club.
In his spare time he is a keen member of The Rotary Club of St Albans and enjoys walking and eating out.
Cllr Geoff Harrison, Deputy Mayor of St Albans City & District.
Contact for the Mayor’s office:
Alison Orde, the Mayor’s Civic Officer
Tel: 01727 819544 E-mail: Alison.orde@stalbans.gov.uk
Contact for the press:
Davina Mansell, Information and Communication Officer
Tel: 01727 819316. E-mail: davina.mansell@stalbans.gov.uk
St Albans City and District Council
www.stalbans.gov.uk
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