The Place To Be campaign was rolling before I became mayor (Letters, November 7).

The mayor had a place on the committee whoever he or she happened to be and, as I recall, there was only one meeting in my term of office - hardly a platform.

The whole council had a picture taken together following the announcement of city status and by then I was no longer mayor - hardly milking it.

The success of my mayoral year had nothing to do with external campaigns.

My objective for the year was to reconnect the public with the Town Hall. Hundreds of people visited the mayor's parlour, hundreds of children visited the council chamber and I visited hundreds of organisations, particularly those working unseen in a voluntary capacity for the good of the community.

For the record, the where else campaign was launched after I was mayor and I played no part in either planning or organising the campaign.

I am proud of Brighton and Hove and city status confirmed the uniting of the two towns. My point is we do not have to continually be on a campaign trail to prove who we are or, for that matter, how unique we are as a city.

As for the list of council spending to justify this preoccupation, has Councillor Jackie Lythell forgotten the money comes from our pockets and the services she tells us the money is spent on are the essential services for which we as council tax payers are charged a high premium in this city?

-Coun Jenny Barnard-Langston, Liberal Democrat, Goldsmid ward, Brighton and Hove