If you want a graphic demonstration of how stuck in the past our glorious leaders are at Barnet Council when it comes to engaging with the public, look no further. Just to prove a point, Barnet Unison and the Barnet Eye got together to show them how it's done.
For those of you who couldn't make it down to the Claddagh Ring on Tuesday night for some great music and some great words from local public services workers, we got it live video streamed. The highlights are now on line. There was some fine music from the bands, Alan Warner from the Foundations headlined, you can also see up and coming band the Hamptons, Connie A (with my band, the False Dots), Nick G and RadFax Trev
http://www.gotseen.com/videochannels.php?vidch=104
Anyway, what point were we seeking to make to the dinosaurs at Barnet Council. The council spent nearly £100,000 on equipment for videoconferncing in their Ivory Towers/ palatial offices. What have we seen? NOTHING. If UNISON can broadcast a live gig, with speeches from The Claddagh Ring and then put it on-line, why can't Barnet Council broadcast their meetings, so we can all participate in the democratic process. On the Future Shape blog,m I just published a response from Councillor Robert Rams, which clearly shows what he thinks of consulting with citizens and who should make the decisions, check this out, it's quite unbelievable :-
http://barnetfutureshape.blogspot.com/2010/12/consultation-robert-rams-style.html
Does Councillor "Sheepshead" think other councils are not being innovative and providing better services and a lot more for less. It Seems Councillor 'Sheeps'head is quite happy taking his loot from the taxpayer and any extra he might get it for his deep back pocket while giving Barnet 2nd rate library service.
ReplyDeleteI think this response from Rams is extremely disrespectful to you and to the many thousands of residents who have signed the petition: in fact he has completely omitted any reference to the petition, which implies that, in terms of the consultation, it is simply irrelevant. This simply goes to prove what we already know: the consultation process in this borough is a travesty and is entirely stage managed by the administration.
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