Green councillor has local community activists arrested
. | 07.07.2008 14:46 | Culture | Free Spaces | Oxford
A 'green' councillor in Oxford encouraged police to arrest two people on false charges merely for insisting on their rights to access the local community centre, a space which both of them have worked hard as volunteers to support and develop. There is an ongoing story of Cllr Mary-Jane Sareva trying to extend her control over the centre.
An argument developed at East Oxford Community Centre yesterday evening when bouncers policing the event in the downstairs bar refused to let users of OARC, a permanently rented office space upstairs, into the building.
They'd been making it difficult for OARC volunteers to go upstairs throughout the day, only letting in a few people whom they recognised, and denying others access at other times. Another local councillor, Nuala Young, was (understandably) heard complaining that the bouncers seemed quite intimidating. It was this that prompted an OARC activist to try and take a photo of one of the bouncers. He was very unhappy about this and threatened to take the camera if any photos were taken. The photographer was then told by Cllr Sareva he was 'banned from the building' (!).
A handful of other OARC users, who had earlier been allowed through, and were leaving the building, heard what had happened, and joined him to demand he be allowed in. Cllr Sareva then decreed that no-one was allowed up at all. The argument over photography continued as another person started filming, only to have the bouncers repeatedly try to grab his camera.
It was at this point, exasperated at Mary-Jane's dictatorial attitude (which I have experienced on several previous occasions), and seeing a large opening with the bouncers distracted by the camera argument, that I decided I had had enough, and decided to go straight in without their permission. They pushed me back outside. One of them lost it completely, shouting "Get back or I'll kill you... I'll kill you.. I'll kill you". This was more ridiculous than scary at the time, though it's slightly worrying to think that a supposedly professsional bouncer should lose his temper so much at someone merely pushing past him.
We calmed them down as best we could, explaining (again!) that we weren't after a fight but just asserting our right to use the building. The arguments continued until the police arrived. Some of them were ushered straight in to talk to Mary-Jane, without stopping to hear our version of events, while others replaced the bouncers at the door. We tried to reason with them too, but didn't get anywhere. They threatened to arrest us for being 'drunk and disorderly' merely for refusing to leave. When challenged they couldn't say what grounds they had for suspecting us of being drunk, but just muttered something about us being disorderly.
The senior officer emerged and pronounced 'based on what she [Mary-Jane] has just told me, yourself and yourself [pointing at two of the others] are under arrest for assault'. Neither of them had done anything resembling assault. They hadn't even tried to run past the bouncers as I had. In fact, one of them was actually assaulted by the bouncers during an argument over the camera(!).
Bizarrely, they were released from the police vehicle a short time later, further up the road, after promising not to go back to the Community Centre that evening. Apparently the police were content merely to get them out of the way. That doesn't excuse a representative of the local green party - which is normally seen as an ally of local activists in Oxford - from using the police to remove those who dare to disagree with her, nor from appointing herself as an authority to decide who gets to use our local Community Centre, and how.
Background
----------------
Mary-Jane Sareva has played a prominent part in helping East Oxford police shut down the Social Club, a members-run community organisation which used to run the bar in the community centre. At first she claimed to be working to support the Social Club, and it was on her recommendation that Hawk Security were hired as bouncers. It was only later that we discovered that she worked for them herself! Her answer to this is that when working the door at the Social Club she is doing so as a volunteer, and therefore there is no conflict of interest. Nevertheless Hawk Security were paid for the hours she worked as bouncer.
She then used her same bouncer friends to enforce the eviction of the club, and later to prevent a general meeting of the Community Association (which runs the centre) from taking place - a meeting that could have overturned the decision to evict the social club. The meeting was called off by the Association's Management Committee on extremely dubious technical grounds, and Mary-Jane was the enforcer called upon to ensure the actual members didn't get a democratic say in the process. It's worth mentioning that a director of Hawk Security, and his accountant, are both currently on the Management Committee(!).
The social club has now been evicted, and (partly at the insistence of the police) the bar will now be run by an individual profit-making manager, rather than by a committee elected by the members. Guess who's applied for the job? Yep - Councillor Mary-Jane Sareva herself.
Meanwhile the local council has considered plans to move the Community Centre to another (smaller) site, and develop the current site into flats and shops, and the wider context is of a creeping gentrification of the Cowley Road area.
Action
----------
The local green party and the Community Association must break all ties with Cllr Sareva. She is an authoritarian bully working to extend her own control with the aim of becoming bar manager - giving her unaccountable access to massive amounts of money. Whenever the bar has been under the authority of just one or two individuals there have almost always been questions raised about corruption and money going missing. Mary-Jane cannot be trusted to run the bar, nor would she make a good bar manager, being almost universally disliked. Nor should she be allowed to dictate whether other community centre groups have access to the building.
If you have opinions about this, or have had any experiences of Mary-Jane Sareva's behaviour, please write to the Green Party and Community Association ASAP telling them what you think:
East Oxford Community Association
East Oxford Community Centre
Princes Street
OXFORD
OX4 1HU
east_oxford_cc@yahoo.co.uk (mark for the attention of Sarah Lasenby, the chair)
East Oxford Green Councillors:
Nuala Young
nuala@greenoxford.com
01865 749459
Matt Morton
cllrmmorton@oxford.gov.uk
01865 724251
Craig Simmons
craig@greenoxford.com
01865 202257
Elise Benjamin
elise@greenoxford.com
01865 202257
David Williams
cllrdwilliams@oxford.gov.uk
01865 765852
Mary-Jane Sareva
mary-jane@greenoxford.com
07930 825472
If you prefer, their postal addresses and surgery times are listed here:
http://www.oxford.gov.uk/council/meeting-diary.cfm/detail/27
Some other prominent local Greens (not a complete list):
Sushila Dhall
Sushila.Dhall@Oxfordshire.gov.uk
01865 790783
Deborah Glass-Woodin
deborah.glasswoodin@oxfordshire.gov.uk
01865 248073
Larry Sanders
larry.sanders@oxfordshire.gov.uk
01865 244487
Chip Sherwood
chip.sherwood@oxfordshire.gov.uk
01865 790607
Sid Phelps
sid@greenoxford.com
John Kentish
jkentish@googlemail.com
Don O'neal
don@greenoxford.com
Mark Stevenson
markcs59@yahoo.co.uk
All local green emails on one line:
nuala@greenoxford.com, cllrmmorton@oxford.gov.uk, craig@greenoxford.com, elise@greenoxford.com, cllrdwilliams@oxford.gov.uk, mary-jane@greenoxford.com, Sushila.Dhall@Oxfordshire.gov.uk, deborah.glasswoodin@oxfordshire.gov.uk, larry.sanders@oxfordshire.gov.uk, chip.sherwood@oxfordshire.gov.uk, sid@greenoxford.com, jkentish@googlemail.com, don@greenoxford.com, markcs59@yahoo.co.uk
For more background, see:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/oxford/2008/05/399915.html
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/oxford/2008/04/395670.html
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/oxford/2008/03/394805.html
https://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/thesocialclub
They'd been making it difficult for OARC volunteers to go upstairs throughout the day, only letting in a few people whom they recognised, and denying others access at other times. Another local councillor, Nuala Young, was (understandably) heard complaining that the bouncers seemed quite intimidating. It was this that prompted an OARC activist to try and take a photo of one of the bouncers. He was very unhappy about this and threatened to take the camera if any photos were taken. The photographer was then told by Cllr Sareva he was 'banned from the building' (!).
A handful of other OARC users, who had earlier been allowed through, and were leaving the building, heard what had happened, and joined him to demand he be allowed in. Cllr Sareva then decreed that no-one was allowed up at all. The argument over photography continued as another person started filming, only to have the bouncers repeatedly try to grab his camera.
It was at this point, exasperated at Mary-Jane's dictatorial attitude (which I have experienced on several previous occasions), and seeing a large opening with the bouncers distracted by the camera argument, that I decided I had had enough, and decided to go straight in without their permission. They pushed me back outside. One of them lost it completely, shouting "Get back or I'll kill you... I'll kill you.. I'll kill you". This was more ridiculous than scary at the time, though it's slightly worrying to think that a supposedly professsional bouncer should lose his temper so much at someone merely pushing past him.
We calmed them down as best we could, explaining (again!) that we weren't after a fight but just asserting our right to use the building. The arguments continued until the police arrived. Some of them were ushered straight in to talk to Mary-Jane, without stopping to hear our version of events, while others replaced the bouncers at the door. We tried to reason with them too, but didn't get anywhere. They threatened to arrest us for being 'drunk and disorderly' merely for refusing to leave. When challenged they couldn't say what grounds they had for suspecting us of being drunk, but just muttered something about us being disorderly.
The senior officer emerged and pronounced 'based on what she [Mary-Jane] has just told me, yourself and yourself [pointing at two of the others] are under arrest for assault'. Neither of them had done anything resembling assault. They hadn't even tried to run past the bouncers as I had. In fact, one of them was actually assaulted by the bouncers during an argument over the camera(!).
Bizarrely, they were released from the police vehicle a short time later, further up the road, after promising not to go back to the Community Centre that evening. Apparently the police were content merely to get them out of the way. That doesn't excuse a representative of the local green party - which is normally seen as an ally of local activists in Oxford - from using the police to remove those who dare to disagree with her, nor from appointing herself as an authority to decide who gets to use our local Community Centre, and how.
Background
----------------
Mary-Jane Sareva has played a prominent part in helping East Oxford police shut down the Social Club, a members-run community organisation which used to run the bar in the community centre. At first she claimed to be working to support the Social Club, and it was on her recommendation that Hawk Security were hired as bouncers. It was only later that we discovered that she worked for them herself! Her answer to this is that when working the door at the Social Club she is doing so as a volunteer, and therefore there is no conflict of interest. Nevertheless Hawk Security were paid for the hours she worked as bouncer.
She then used her same bouncer friends to enforce the eviction of the club, and later to prevent a general meeting of the Community Association (which runs the centre) from taking place - a meeting that could have overturned the decision to evict the social club. The meeting was called off by the Association's Management Committee on extremely dubious technical grounds, and Mary-Jane was the enforcer called upon to ensure the actual members didn't get a democratic say in the process. It's worth mentioning that a director of Hawk Security, and his accountant, are both currently on the Management Committee(!).
The social club has now been evicted, and (partly at the insistence of the police) the bar will now be run by an individual profit-making manager, rather than by a committee elected by the members. Guess who's applied for the job? Yep - Councillor Mary-Jane Sareva herself.
Meanwhile the local council has considered plans to move the Community Centre to another (smaller) site, and develop the current site into flats and shops, and the wider context is of a creeping gentrification of the Cowley Road area.
Action
----------
The local green party and the Community Association must break all ties with Cllr Sareva. She is an authoritarian bully working to extend her own control with the aim of becoming bar manager - giving her unaccountable access to massive amounts of money. Whenever the bar has been under the authority of just one or two individuals there have almost always been questions raised about corruption and money going missing. Mary-Jane cannot be trusted to run the bar, nor would she make a good bar manager, being almost universally disliked. Nor should she be allowed to dictate whether other community centre groups have access to the building.
If you have opinions about this, or have had any experiences of Mary-Jane Sareva's behaviour, please write to the Green Party and Community Association ASAP telling them what you think:
East Oxford Community Association
East Oxford Community Centre
Princes Street
OXFORD
OX4 1HU
east_oxford_cc@yahoo.co.uk (mark for the attention of Sarah Lasenby, the chair) East Oxford Green Councillors:
Nuala Young
nuala@greenoxford.com 01865 749459
Matt Morton
cllrmmorton@oxford.gov.uk 01865 724251
Craig Simmons
craig@greenoxford.com 01865 202257
Elise Benjamin
elise@greenoxford.com 01865 202257
David Williams
cllrdwilliams@oxford.gov.uk 01865 765852
Mary-Jane Sareva
mary-jane@greenoxford.com 07930 825472
If you prefer, their postal addresses and surgery times are listed here:
http://www.oxford.gov.uk/council/meeting-diary.cfm/detail/27 Some other prominent local Greens (not a complete list):
Sushila Dhall
Sushila.Dhall@Oxfordshire.gov.uk 01865 790783
Deborah Glass-Woodin
deborah.glasswoodin@oxfordshire.gov.uk 01865 248073
Larry Sanders
larry.sanders@oxfordshire.gov.uk 01865 244487
Chip Sherwood
chip.sherwood@oxfordshire.gov.uk 01865 790607
Sid Phelps
sid@greenoxford.com John Kentish
jkentish@googlemail.com Don O'neal
don@greenoxford.com Mark Stevenson
markcs59@yahoo.co.uk All local green emails on one line:
nuala@greenoxford.com, cllrmmorton@oxford.gov.uk, craig@greenoxford.com, elise@greenoxford.com, cllrdwilliams@oxford.gov.uk, mary-jane@greenoxford.com, Sushila.Dhall@Oxfordshire.gov.uk, deborah.glasswoodin@oxfordshire.gov.uk, larry.sanders@oxfordshire.gov.uk, chip.sherwood@oxfordshire.gov.uk, sid@greenoxford.com, jkentish@googlemail.com, don@greenoxford.com, markcs59@yahoo.co.uk For more background, see:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/oxford/2008/05/399915.html http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/oxford/2008/04/395670.html http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/oxford/2008/03/394805.html https://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/thesocialclub
.
Additions
Council Complaint
07.07.2008 17:06
I was one of the people that Sareva had arrested to order. Before the police came to arrest me I saw Sarava pointing me out to one of the officers. Shortly after that the same officer arrested me on suspicion of assault (a trumped up charge invented to have me removed from the area). In the car he took my name and told me that this was necessary because he needed "something to tell her".
I shall be looking into making a complaint about Sareva's behaviour to the Council (as well as to the Green Party and EOCA) as detailed at:
http://www.oxford.gov.uk/council/councillor-complaints.cfm
I'd urge anyone else who witnessed the assaults by and obstreperous behavoiur of the (unbadged) bouncers and Sareva to do the same. Preventing the community from using our own community centre is blatantly unacceptable. The specific criteria from the council code of conduct which I feel Sarava breached by her behaviour are as follows:
# Failing to treat people with respect;
# Bullying any person;
# Damaging the reputation of their office or authority;
# Using their position improperly, to their own or someone else's advantage or disadvantage;
I'm expecting some kind of constructive dialogue with all parties and hoping that:
# EOCA will put in place strong safeguards to protect the rights of OARC and other centre users to access the rooms that they rent without intimidation by bullies.
# The council and Green Party will take urgent action about Sareva's behaviour which has not lived up to the professional standards one ought to expect from representatives of such organisations and indeed could be said to have bought both organisations into disrepute.
I shall be looking into making a complaint about Sareva's behaviour to the Council (as well as to the Green Party and EOCA) as detailed at:
http://www.oxford.gov.uk/council/councillor-complaints.cfm I'd urge anyone else who witnessed the assaults by and obstreperous behavoiur of the (unbadged) bouncers and Sareva to do the same. Preventing the community from using our own community centre is blatantly unacceptable. The specific criteria from the council code of conduct which I feel Sarava breached by her behaviour are as follows:
# Failing to treat people with respect;
# Bullying any person;
# Damaging the reputation of their office or authority;
# Using their position improperly, to their own or someone else's advantage or disadvantage;
I'm expecting some kind of constructive dialogue with all parties and hoping that:
# EOCA will put in place strong safeguards to protect the rights of OARC and other centre users to access the rooms that they rent without intimidation by bullies.
# The council and Green Party will take urgent action about Sareva's behaviour which has not lived up to the professional standards one ought to expect from representatives of such organisations and indeed could be said to have bought both organisations into disrepute.
Charlie
security may not have been Hawk
21.07.2008 17:03
One of Hawk's directors has stated that Hawk Security were not employed for that event at all.
Although several of the door staff involved were the same ones that have been witnessed on many previous occasions working for Hawk, it's possible that on this occasion they were either working freelance or that Mary-Jane may have her own security company. Investigations are ongoing.
It has also been confirmed by EOCA that Mary-Jane was responsible for organising the bar and security for that event.
Although several of the door staff involved were the same ones that have been witnessed on many previous occasions working for Hawk, it's possible that on this occasion they were either working freelance or that Mary-Jane may have her own security company. Investigations are ongoing.
It has also been confirmed by EOCA that Mary-Jane was responsible for organising the bar and security for that event.
.
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