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Letters to the Editor
 
I’ll stand in four years

Since I made my announcement through the CNJ that I would not be standing in the forthcoming local elections, I have received many calls asking me why.
The decision not to stand was extremely hard, especially when I believed, like so many, that it was time for new blood to be injected into the local political system. A system which has not only become a little staid but one that needs to genuinely and more openly find a way to get back in touch with the grass roots needs and wishes of Camden residents if communities have any chance of surviving.
Since the eviction from its former premises in Greenland Road in December 2003, the Camden Town Neighbourhood Advice Centre has continued its 35-year tradition of serving the Camden community from the home of former Camden Mayor Gloria Lazenby.
The work of the CTNAC has only been possible due to the commitment of residents and volunteers who make up the management committee and day to day advice providers.
It has also been those volunteers (with the support of some of the CTNAC’s clients) who have dug deeply into their own pockets in order to cover the administration and running costs since the withdrawal of the CTNAC’s funding in 1999 when it was receiving an annual grant of £80,000. Against the backdrop of trying to provide an un-funded service over the last four years, the CTNAC has had to contend with the ongoing issue of the much reported investigation into me of illegal activities. Attempts to see the full content of a personal investigation file has to date resulted in ten court hearings with taxpayer’s money being used in preventing me clearing my name.
The ongoing court case was not something which I felt should be put into the public arena of an election campaign, an issue which potentially could have been used either intentionally by any party or individual to score points.
Clearly it would not have been either right or appropriate to put into the local election system, an ongoing legal matter where allegations of a criminal nature have not been totally satisfied beyond reproach.
Whilst I do not profess to be a voyeur of the private and personal lives of my fellow man, as a public servant, I have no problem with laying out any area of my life, both professional and private.
I can only hope that in four years time, when I will have hopefully removed the smear of such allegations against me, that if I am asked and there is a need, I will be able to consider with my integrity and honesty publicly restored, the possibility of standing in the 2010 local elections.
Barry Sullivan
Greenland Road
NW1


Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, Camden New Journal, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@camdennewjournal.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Tuesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld. Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for reasons of space.
 
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