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It's Our City Campaign - Have you Signed?

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Can I also urge people to go along to the Council meetings and table questions to the council. They really do need holding to account for the things they do, and don't do.

 

They are way too complacent.

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Be aware before signing.

 

This is a political group based around Green issues and deeply involved in the tree campaign. Some are/were directly involved in the Green Party and STAG.

 

Having failed in local council elections across the city elements of Green movement are now attempting to "persuade" the majority of Sheffield voters to accept their policies through the back door.

 

If other groups of activists tried to obtain control of our Council we would find it outrageous.

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So basically a petition for people who don't like the fact that they currently live in a place where the majority doesn't agree with their personal political agendas so they want to change the rules so that they can get power they haven't been able to acquire in the ballot boxes.

 

Jog on. One third of Sheffield's council seats are up for election next May. Try persuading people to vote for your parties rather than denigrating them for voting Labour. Every time you do that you just sound like intolerant fools.

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No ta.

 

What would be democratic would be to create a party for people to vote for - not undermine the democratic process by changing the govemental structure.

 

stuff like this gets on my nerves - “I don’t like what’s happening but can’t be bothered to get elected to do something about it so I’ll start a position to change the rules”

 

It's clearly not undemocratic for citizens to ask the council to change how decisions are made. It's simply democracy being enacted in a slightly different way.

 

---------- Post added 27-08-2018 at 09:18 ----------

 

So you're suggesting that every decision has to go to the full council (effectively a committee of every councillor)?

 

No, that isn't the proposal.

The details are available at the links that I already posted.

 

---------- Post added 27-08-2018 at 09:19 ----------

 

Be aware before signing.

 

This is a political group based around Green issues and deeply involved in the tree campaign. Some are/were directly involved in the Green Party and STAG.

 

Having failed in local council elections across the city elements of Green movement are now attempting to "persuade" the majority of Sheffield voters to accept their policies through the back door.

 

If other groups of activists tried to obtain control of our Council we would find it outrageous.

 

They aren't trying to obtain control in the slightest. How would a slight reorganisation of the council to be more committee and less majority figure based somehow give non-councillors any control? :roll:

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They aren't trying to obtain control in the slightest. How would a slight reorganisation of the council to be more committee and less majority figure based somehow give non-councillors any control? :roll:

 

 

The lack of popular support of Green Party and STAG issues has resulted in minimal representation at the Council.

 

A pressure group formed of activists promoting the same issues has been formed giving the impression that they have "our" democracy at heart.

 

This is a back door attempt to force change through manipulation of procedure.

 

If this was a Ukip or communist ploy it would be rightly howled down.

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So exactly how would a change to make decisions more committee based force change on green party and stag issues?

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It's just a return to the old status quo. Before the Strong Leader cabinet model was enforced by the then Labour government in 2000.

 

As I understand it, it was more democratic in that councillors sat on specific committees and had more influence on decisions than now, when it's basically Julie Dore calling the shots.

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So exactly how would a change to make decisions more committee based force change on green party and stag issues?

 

This is the clever bit.

 

A group of anonymous activists who do not declare their bias get a minority of individuals to win a referendum with an undisclosed question.

 

What is the question on the referendum? They -the committee don't say.

What are the rules of the referendum? They don't say.

Who decides the question? The committee mainly associated with the tree campaign (with a minority of political party members),and its membership.

Who are the membership? The committee decide who are members by veto.

 

Who elects the un-elected new council committee members? Unelected activists.

 

Why do the unelected activists bother with all this? So they have influence on council committees and their elected councillors, by-passing the democratic system.

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“We, the undersigned, being local government electors for the area of Sheffield City Council, to whom this petition is addressed, seek a referendum on whether the council should be run in a different way by one or more committees made up of elected councillors.

 

The exact wording hasn't been set, but the intent of the referendum seems clear. And people could always vote no if there was a referendum and they didn't like the terms.

 

It says nothing about "unelected committees", nor is that implied.

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The basic idea is that originally SCC (and other councils) operated a committee system, where for every area (like education etc) there was committee that ran education. The committee had a majority of the ruling party, but crucially, there were opposition members on each committee. SCC now run a cabinet system where opposition parties have no real ability to influence or scrutinise. There is a legal route to make councils revert to the committee system - which is to get a 5% petition to force a referendum.

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Most councillors, including most Labour councillors, have no say in council policy or decision making. That is in the hands of only TEN people. So if you don't live in Burngreave, Birley, Park and Arbourthorne, Nether Edge, Walkley, Darnall, Southey or Gleadless Valley YOUR councillor has little say in decision making in Sheffield. The idea of It's Our City is to allow ALL COUNCILLORS to have more say, and to represent their constituents (ie those of us who don't live in that handful of wards, which is most of us) more effectively.

 

---------- Post added 27-08-2018 at 17:23 ----------

 

Under a committee system the committees would still be made up of elected councillors - it's just that more of them would be directly involved in decision making, which means that more Sheffielders would be directly represented by their chosen councillors.

Edited by Jonny B
added words

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The legislation applies to communities who wish to see a change in the way their council is run.

 

This is an attempt by an organization created by activists from STAG and the Green Party who have Green politics and trees as their motivation.

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