SOMEONE may have thought they were helping Haringey Council by creating a Twitter account that is an attempt at parody of a noted Council critic, Tottenham's Mr. Martin Ball.
According to this article in the Tottenham & Wood Green Independent, the Council have denied that anyone within the Authority has set up the account and Mr. Ball has said whoever set it up should "get a life".
Mr. Ball is unaligned politically.
It's said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
All that "MoanyMartin_N17" has achieved is to direct more attention to the real Mr. Martin Ball, who tweets under the moniker, @martinballN17.
Under a more generous and enlightened administration, Mr. Ball will be presented with a letter of grateful thanks by the Local Authority for the amount of work he has done in and for the community.
CDC
Haringey Councillor
Liberal Democrat Party
Tags for Forum Posts: Martin Ball, Twitter, parody, spoof, troll
Some of the "riot money", yes. Yet again, I draw your attention to the Council's own statement about the source of the funds.
A previous Mayor commented – crassly – on the money value of the riots (since apologised for in a little-known corner of the web. The photo at the top right is not of the Mayor then responsible).
It is LBH that chooses what to support. Was a (now licensed-) restaurant the best use of those public monies (it's 100% taxes)?
Will it last?
Was it ambitious enough?
If Tottenham regeneration was the goal, then I'm not convinced this was the best way to spend public funds.
So Clive, it's just all down to party political sh** stirring is it? It's all just a middle class aquarium punch up, only interesting to those within it.
Rather than boost your party's standing, I would suggest that all your postings acheive, is an increase in the already shocking cynicism against all politicians and parties, that can be seen everywhere.
The time to bring the council to account is at the next election and not with postings, that quite frankly, go over the heads of much of the electorate.
I'm just very curious. I've said to some people that I don't get what the fuss is about with Chicken Town and they've implied that there's more than meets the eye to it. Other than that I think Martin is being quite OTT with his opposition to the new businesses too.
John M, Michael, and James, I've just seen the last few comments on this thread.
Since I'm one of the people who has commented publicly about about Chicken Town and other publicly subsidised businesses, I'm puzzled about "stuff going on we don't know about". If people want to know about what I post, or think, usually I'm happy to respond to a direct question. By email or phone if they prefer. (Though I try to avoid engaging with trolls.)
I'm also curious about the assumption that public funding for Haringey's various "Opportunity" projects is rigidly determined. (Perhaps by Boris or GLA bureaucrats?). To be honest I don't know if it is. Or if not, then how much leeway there could be. My admittedly limited experience is that these categories are negotiable between public authorities - especially when the constraints are actually arbitrary and not imposed by law.
In general, I think it's useful to distinguish between real problems (e.g. fixing a streetlight); and bureaucratic problems. (An example might be an arbitrary cut-off point for spending the money. Or the apparent assumption by some old-fashioned thinkers, that services and jobs in caring (e.g. home care) are not part of the "real" economy.
One more point. Plainly, commercial businesses are not beyond criticism. (Especially say, if their waste is strewn on the street, seeping on the pavement, or trickling across a nearby carpark.)
But if a commercial business accepts significant public funds in grants; soft loans; reduced/waived charges; or a low cost lease; why should anyone be surprised if members of the public ask about the details and rationale for this subsidy, and comment on it?
To rephrase:
If a commercial business accepts significant public funds in grants; or soft loans; or reduced/waived charges; or a low cost lease; or free advertising, in my opinion they should be prepared to account to members of the public who wish to ask about the details and rationale for these subsidies.
Other people may disagree and feel that it's okay for public money to be handed over with no such accountability and no possibility of questions being asked. I would have to agree to differ from their views.
Please reread what I actually wrote rather than what you pretend I wrote.
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