Dragons Den contender Ajit Chambers writes to The Whistler, and poses a question to our readers and Brighton…

Dear Editor

I would like to pose a question to Brighton.

In an age where politicians are being made to realise that they are hired by us to do a job for us,  I have a question for you, Brighton. A question based around a situation which is directly harming the vibe of Brighton itself. First of all, some context.

What if there were an organisation operating in Brighton hired by our politicians, our local government, our council that simply isn’t doing its job very well? An organisation designed to specifically catch out the community, hire staff without customer services experience, and blatantly does not care about the service it provides but simply its financial rewards.

An organisation whose staff marches around the streets of Brighton & Hove, interrogating the community with lashings of rudeness, relishing their own uniformed presence.

An organisation which arms its staff with uniforms and booklets and digital cameras designed to make them money, whilst desperately reaping rewards from Brightonians under a nice healthy contract with our local council.

Now the question.

Would you, as a member of the community, not ask our politicians to simply investigate this organisation?  Would you ask our local council to show us the customer services training these automaton-like characters have been through before their release onto Brighton’s streets?

If you found out there was no customer services training and that this organisation has a job directly in contact with the public in an enforcement uniform, would it make you want to write to our local council and ask them to re-examine its relationship with this organisation?

Ask yourself this, the last time you came in contact with a uniformed parking warden – what was the experience like?  Was it that of an organisation providing a lovely service to Brighton, or a rude person in a yellow uniform?

Sincerely, Ajit Chambers

[We’d love to hear views from The Whistler readers – if you’re a traffic warden, a member of the council or a resident of the city – Ed]

Dear Whistler

Have your readers heard about the recently set up Fairness Commission, which is to ensure that everyone “has a share in the city’s economic success and an opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives?” At a time when more centrally imposed cuts are being implemented, the Fairness Commission -an independent body set up by the council [sic] – will explore issues that cause inequality and listen to the concerns of residents, community organisations and businesses. It will hold a public meeting in various locations every month until March 2016, starting this November. Each meeting will focus on a crucial issue such as healthy lives, living and working in the city or young people. Given the track history of “consultations” by the council, let’s hope that the independent credentials of the 12 commissioners are used to good effect in this exercise, which will influence future city budgets.

Pat Jones, Seven Dials