Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Any burning questions for your local council candidates?
At the most recent HOL group meeting (more from Hugh about this here) we debated the idea of carrying out short interviews, probably video, with local council candidates, to give local people more information about the people who will be wanting our votes come May 6th. One option would be to have five key questions that we ask all the candidates.
So if you have any ideas about the sorts of questions you'd like to put to prospective councillors, please post them here!
Some random first thoughts ... Partly inspired by some of the discussion on this post (though apologies in advance for some of the less appealing party political chuff that appears on it).
Where do you live? What's your connection to Harringay/St Ann's/Seven Sisters?
What do you see as the most important problems facing this ward? Tell us something about how you think they should be solved?
What are the good things about this area?
How will your past experience help you be an effective local councillor?
That's my list so far - so over to you. Any thoughts on what you'd like to ask?
Tags for Forum Posts: 2010 local election, 2010 local elections, council, councillor, questions, voting
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Omotn on
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Q1. The problems we face locally are well documented inthe local press and on bulletin boards such as HoL. What do you propose as solutions?
Q2. List your proposed solutions in priority order and set out a timescale for achieving the top 3.
Q3. What powers does a local council actually have in respect of these problems, and how would you use them?
Q4. Do you think Haringey's adoption of an indirectly elected mayor helps the cause of local democracy by making the mayor more effective, or hinders it by making him/her less accountable?
Q5. When the voices talk to you, what are they telling you to do?
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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I needed to think about Omotn's Q4, so in case others aren't clear either, Haringey recently had a consultation about the form of leadership it should adopt for the Council.
A key choice was between a system where councillors elected the leader (similar to what has happened in the past) vs one where the public elect a mayor (a al Ken and Boris). Haringey has opted for an indirectly elected leader system, described thus on the Haringey website:
"The Leader model will look a lot like the current system, with a Leader chosen from council members by a majority of councillors every four years.
The main difference is that the Leader will be more powerful and can decide what power he/she delegates to Cabinet members, area assemblies or individual councillors. The Leader will have to appoint a deputy who would form part of a cabinet of up to 9 Councillors. The Leader will propose a budget and policies for Full Council’s approval. The Leader could be removed from office at any time by a vote of no confidence from the council.
Under this system Overview and Scrutiny Committee would continue to check decisions, hold decision makers to account and review/make recommendations on Council policies and practices. Other committees such as Planning and Licensing will continue. The current role of civic Mayor will also continue." More here.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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With regard to Scrutiny, Alison, I'd take issue with the word "continue". The idea that it has "held decision-makers to account" is a comfortable fantasy. With some exceptions, the rest remains an aspiration.
[Cllr and p.c.c. Tottenham Hale ward.]
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Yes, point taken Alan, thanks.
Not my words though, taken from the Haringey website!
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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I like your 1 & 2 in particular Omotn. They cut to the heart of what, in my mind, councillors should be doing - understand the residents' issues - use your position to help fix 'em. I think I'd overlay that with something around asking how they can assure us that their aims will be part of their administration's workplan - if elected.
I also like something around Alison's idea of what makes an effective councillor. Perhaps I'd ask something like - What are the things a councillor does that makes them effective and what about your previous period as a councillor or your past experience will convince me that you will make a good councillor?
Then building on Liz's contributions below, how about something along the lines of:
Do you have a vision of the Harringay you'd like to see in the next 5 - 10 years. What one thing would do more than any other to get us there?
What would you do to improve the opportunity for resident involvement in local decision-making?
So, that makes 5.
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Please don't use video - I would like a written response which contains only the facts. I can assimilate the written word much more quickly. Video is a medium which permits ums, ers and other verbal tics, and which makes the presentation more important than the content. Cf Brown/Blair.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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To some extent I agree with you but they're doing both.
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Thanks, that's helpful feedback Omotn - on video clips vs a written post.
We talked about this at the last HOL meeting - I prefer written stuff too and like you find video gets me too distracted by all the other stuff - but others feel the opposite.
If people have strong views on video clips vs written posts please tell us what you'd prefer.
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Permalink Reply by Saul Letourneau on
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Yes this is a good start,
I would also like to add, being a lcoal geovernment worker myself - not a poitician but a librarian, a lot of councils are being pushed to find new ways of engaging 'active or participatory democracy. So I would put the question to the candidates.
Should they be elected in which ways do they intend to devolve government to residents or actively engage residents in local decisions. No, I'm not talking predetermined consultations ofcourse. The Harringey ladder residetns have offered a great example through social media. How can this be taken further ? Saul
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Permalink Reply by Bob Ruggles on
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We are told that We Need Local Borough Councils
For better Democracy
But when Central Goverment Controls purse Strings
They are just another level of Expense
Now if Councillors was Independants and Not tied to National Parties
They could be worth Time & Effort
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Hey they've not shown that much imagination so far. What would you like them to do to improve affordability of childcare locally? Perhaps a website like mynightoff where the glut of suitable local elderly people can earn council tax credits looking after our lovely young offspring (and perhaps teach them Turkish or Gaelic).
Can you see how something like that might be left up to us?
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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Some combination of the following around the issue of
Place Shaping
1. How do you see our area now, and how will it look in 5 years? (10 years? 20? )
2. What are you going to do to get us there?
3. Are you prepared to learn from other neighbourhoods? Must we always reinvent the wheel?
4. Do you trust the residents to input or will you continue to allow meaningless consultations? What do you understand by partnership? How will you give everyone a voice?
@fmw We have a plan to host a live hustings in April
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