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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 7 September 2007

‘I’d like to live in peace and not be tormented’

Candidates put their cases for election to council housing board

THE battle is on – 12 candidates, including former Lib Dem councillor Joe Trotter, fighting for four prestigious places on the board of the council’s privatised housing arm.
Postal voting has been taking place all this week for the election of tenants and leaseholders to the board of Homes for Islington.
A nail-biting conclusion is expected next Friday.
It is only the second election since HfI – what is inelegantly described as an arm’s-length management organisation, or ALMO – was founded four years ago.
The elected members, on a board of 17, including four councillors, would help represent concerns of 29,000 tenants and 11,000 leaseholders.
The candidates standing for election range from a trainee maths teacher, a Nigerian accountant, a Portuguese community worker and a German web designer.
The best known of the candidates is Mr Trotter who stood down at the last local election after 18 years.
Born and bred in Finsbury, he has always been a council tenant and prides himself on living near the top of a tower block off City Road.
“In my time in Islington I have a track record of fighting for a better deal for local council tenants and leaseholders across the borough,” he says in his statement.
Mr Trotter points out there is currently no resident from Finsbury on the HfI board .
German-born Eugen Hockenjos who lives close to Culpeper gardens in Angel is the most critical of HfI.
He says tenants and leaseholders deserve good-quality repairs that are delivered on time.
“The people in charge have admitted they have no building work or construction work qualification, yet they are spending our rents on often shabby works,” he claims.
Tenant Lilian Pannell submits a simple two-line statement.
“I would like to see tenants live in peace and not be tormented by other people,” she says.
And Brazilian Mirtes Beddows a tenant for 16 years, says: “I am committed and reliable.”

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