Pep talk time.
I've spent four years writing blogs about Barnet Council. Four years trying to make the people who run the council see sense. What do I want them to do? It is quite simple. Provide decent services for the people who live in Barnet who need them. I also want to see the council run as efficiently as possible, so that the money we pay in taxes is used wisely. Some people subscribe to the "No Cuts" mantra. I am the opposite. I'd love to see Barnet Council make lots of cuts. Here are a list of some of the cuts
1. Cut the pay of senior council officers.
2. Cut all of the consultants (current cost £10 million) working on the One Barnet project.
3. Cut the allowances of Barnet Council cabinet, to show that we really are all in this together.
The Barnet Conservatives also talk about a relentless drive for efficiency. I would also like to see this. Whilst they take this to mean providing worse services by outsourcing contracts to private firms, exporting jobs in the process and lowering wages of retained staff, I would achieve this by actually making sure the council was run properly. I would beef up the audit department, so that it had the staff to do it's job properly. Barnet bloggers have exposed numerous cases where Barnet Council have given contractors work without following the rules. This has resulted in the taxpayer being overcharged. Sadly, the relentless drive for efficiency never talks about dealing with this.
Over a thousand people a day read this blog. One has to assume at least some of these people agree with what I write. If you are one of those people, please will you do me a favour today. I have spent four years writing this blog. I'm a dyslexic punk rock musician, who had a comprehensive education, so if I can do something, anyone can. Please can you do at least one of the following today :-
1. Write an email to your local councillor and tell them that you want them to do the things I mentioned above. You can find there email address out at this link - http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1
2. Leave comments on news stories on the Hendon Times website. This is easy, takes five minutes and costs nothing.
3. Email or write to the local press. The details are on the papers websites.
4. Join the Barnet Alliance for Public Services. They meet at the Greek Cypriot Centre in Brittania Road on a Wednesday night at 7pm. Go along tonight.
5. We are making a follow up to the film "A Tale of Two Barnets" - We are asking for contributions to help us make it. The first film cost approx £3,000 to make. Most of these costs were to cover director Charles Hondericks expenses. Charles interviewed 43 people on various days. His tube and bus fares alone were over £500. Whether you could give us £5, £50 or £500, every little will help. Thus far we've received £750.
Email me with your details by clicking the link at the side.
We are planning another gala screening at the Phoenix cinema. We hope this will be in October. The follow up will feature details of what has happened since we made the original film.
But most of all do something ! Anything !
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