“Little did we think that in a Borough like Hackney that the principal of free speech would become an issue. I find the Council’s attempts to restrict free speech through distorting facts in Hackney Today and attempting to ban authors from Council premises sinister in the extreme.”

13/04/10 Hackney have banned my election address from the Mayoral booklet that you will receive. Hackney Citizen.

And here is what Hackney don’t want you to see (needs a pdf reader)!

Links:

It’s official: Mayor thought author ‘too controversial’ for library – Hackney Citizen

Banned in Hackney – for going off-message about the Olympics – The Guardian

“Hackney Council has been a one party state for too long. I will approach members of ALL non-racist parties to serve as Cabinet members.”

Cabinet members have to be drawn from those members who are elected as Councillors. Currently, four parties are represented on the Council and I see no reason why all the skills and experience in those parties shouldn’t be put to good use.

Links:

Hackney Greens

Hackney Liberal Democrats

Hackney Conservatives

Hackney Labour

“The Mayor and his cabinet pay themselves £335,000 a year. The role of cabinet member should be a voluntary one. The honour of public service as a cabinet member should be reward enough. My cabinet will cost £0 in salaries. I will not take a salary and the members of the cabinet will be appointed only if they agree not to take the salary.”

“In 2012 there will be a referendum to decide if Hackney residents want to continue to have an executive Mayor.”

“Each ward will be allocated a £50,000 ‘Local Fund’ which will be spent on local projects by the local Councillors sitting in open session. This will be increased throughout the lifetime of the next administration. Councillors need more power over decisions in their wards.”

Links:

Lewisham Council are doing it – why not Hackney?

When Jules Pipe stated that people who opposed his plans for Dalston wanted to “Keep Hackney Crap” it upset a lot of people who think that the only ‘crap’ bits in Hackney are the ones that Mayor Pipe either runs or has neglected.

People who love Hackney and want to see it improved, not replaced, felt so insulted that my good friends at the Eel magazine started to produce badges with that very slogan on it. Pipe’s assumption seems to have been embraced by planners who see little that is in need of conserving. The destruction of the Dalston Theatre to be replaced by a windswept “Dalston Square”, giving permission to demolish Tony’s Cafe of Broadway Market (still a pile of rubble after four years) and now the development on Sylvester Path all have the support of a planning department who take their lead from a Mayor who loves property developers. Isn’t it time we had a Mayor who loved Hackney?

Links:

Hackney Citizen