'Tagging' graffiti in the Passage

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on October 19, 2011 at 12:24

John, there are thousands more socially useful ways to spend your spare cash than lining the pockets of lawyers. I certainly don't have money for court actions.

You've made an allegation about: "the people who advertise on it [the banner] and the councillors who presumably took political donations from them".

Forget the libel laws. What about the ethics of making unevidenced allegations?

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on October 19, 2011 at 19:12

You're still basically saying that I can't prove it, not that it's not happening. What do you think of the "ethics" of gating the Gardens if we're going to talk about ethics?

 

If the councillors are doing what the local shopkeepers want at the expense of what local voters clearly want and they are not benefitting in some way then they are foolish.

 

Which is it to be?

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on October 20, 2011 at 15:53

Evidence of Absence - Wikipedia link.

Permalink Reply by John McMullan on October 20, 2011 at 20:41

I'm happy to take your word that it's no happening but it feels a bit mean to make you deny it when you seem to be the palatable face of the local Labour party.

Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on October 23, 2011 at 10:27

Surely following that logic I can make any unpleasant (and potentially criminal) allegation about anyone on this website and it's up to them to disprove it.  Itsn't that natural justice turned on its head?

Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on October 24, 2011 at 0:16

Osbawn, I think you will find the best quick guide to the legal rules on donations to political parties is set out here in a publication by the Electoral Commission.

(Labour councillor Tottenham Hale ward. Zena Brabazon Labour councillor for St Ann's Ward is my partner.)

Permalink Reply by Zena Brabazon on October 23, 2011 at 0:31

For the record John, once elected in May 2010 for St. Ann's Ward,  I went to the meetings of the Green Lanes Strategy Group. Disucssions and plans for the bridge were already underway. As I've said on HoL before, Dasos Maliotis who was being made redundant at the time was doing the very best he could to get the bridge banners sorted. All the money was held by the Council and any revenue earned has gone, as far as I know, into a special account also held by the Council for the bridge.

Personally I think the criticisms of the banners are justified, but people genuinely did the best they could against a background of job losses, cuts and the closure of Neighbourhood Management.

Your suggestion that councillors from either party sitting on that committee received any political donations is simply laughable. I assume you were just being cynical.

All the best

Zena

Zena Brabazon

Councillor, St. Ann's Ward

 

 

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on October 25, 2011 at 21:11

Hugh has shown that the Harringay bridge is the ONLY railway bridge in Haringey (and probably London) carrying advertising. Nobody from the council has explained why this is and I think they should. Why was there a banner at all considering the budget cuts? Why was Dasos doing the very best he could if he was being made redundant (you already wondered if I was just being cynical)? Why were the GLSG so desperate to have this banner? Cui Bono? The voters of Harringay certainly don't.

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on October 26, 2011 at 17:30

Zena are you allowed to publish the minutes of the GLSG meetings on HoL? That might help assuage my cynicism.

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on October 26, 2011 at 18:27

Or even here if that's "allowed".

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Permalink Reply by Zena Brabazon on November 9, 2011 at 18:41

Hi John

If I haven't already made it clear, my view is that the minutes should be published. But, like every Council committee there is a part 2 section of the meeting whch may be confidential. Nilgun is chair and she is back from her holiday on Friday and if you write directly to her, rather than simply posting comments on this website I'm sure she will respond. The meeting is not some sort of secret society. It has reps nominated from local residents' associations, the traders, the SNTs, the Ladder Community Safety Partnership and Council staff from enforcement, waste, highways and other services.

As you probably know, the group was established after the shooting in 2002 and was developed to involve different sections of the community to work together to improve things. I worked with Dasos to set it up. At the time we thought having a representative model where local associations nominated or elected their reps was sensible, since it involved local people but kept the group to a manageable size. Issues like social clubs and managing waste collections on Green Lanes were discussed extensively and consensus on how to tackle these problems was reached. The group has worked consistently over the last 9 years to effect change on Green Lanes and is a model which could be usefully applied elsewhere. It has modelled joint working with the Council where officers and the community work together, and in my view has helped hold officers to account. Timed waste collections were developed with the GLSG, and so were the types of multi-agency enforcement actions which led to solving many of the social club problems which plagued Green Lanes over the past few years. I think the group should be congratulated for sticking with it!!

 

Dasos adminstered and supported the group and I think your question as to why he was doing the best he could while being made redundant is mean spirited. He was a first class public servant, made a great contribution to the area and is sorely missed.

 

Zena Brabazon

Cllr, St. Ann's Ward

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on November 9, 2011 at 21:04

I have written directly to Nilgun on many occasions and have not received a single response. I get a better response, and it's far more open, writing on here. So thank you very much, but I'll stick with this.

 

I know how the group was established. It all sounds very democratic...

 

Yes the comments I made about Dasos were mean spirited, well spotted. Is the gating of the Gardens mean spirited? Is the support the council/GLSG received for the Harringay bridge banner (the only one of its kind in Haringey) from the GRA really just community mindedness or is it "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours"? I still don't understand how the banner exists when it is so unique in Haringey, nay, London! Perhaps you can explain?

 

How much to put rising bollards on my road? $10K? £20K. No problem, sign me up. Sorry for the people on Raleigh Rd and Falkland Rd but I'll be OK and this isn't mean spirited of me, honest.

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