The St James’ Community Action Group (SJCAG) will be holding an EGM on Wednesday, February 12.
The EGM will take place at St Mary’s Church, 61 St James Street at 7pm and will be chaired by Chris Gull who facilitated the original public meeting in November 2012 at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church attended by the Police and Crime Commissioner, Katy Bourne and Simon Kirby, MP for Kemptown & Peacehaven which ultimately resulted in the formation of the SJCAG.
St James’ Community Action Group is a Local Action Teams (LAT) that works effectively with the Police and other statutory bodies to determine priorities, particularly in relation to neighbourhood policing.
In a letter to residents dated February 10, SJCAG Chairperson, Chris Cooke has asked local residents to attend the EGM to determine if the organisation continues as “a community led organisation free of party political and special interest influence.”
Chris said: “I am encouraging each member to attend this important meeting as it will determine the future direction of our community group.”
“I am as passionate today about the St.James’ neighbourhood as I was back in November 2012 when the group was launched arising from the outrage caused by a violent attack on an innocent individual going about his normal business.”
He listed the issues now affecting the group as:
• The continued development of a community led, non party political, independent Action Group
• Discussions within SJCAG must take place in a non-partisan way without vitriol and in a manner that shows respect for all concerned
• The overall aim of the group should be to improve the quality of life for everyone in the community with maximum effort to ensure the Police, the Council, and other statutory bodies are accountable in a transparent way to the community”
Mr Cooke is calling for members to give a new executive committee, with himself as chair, support to continue the work initiated over the last 15 months.
The EGM was called following a petition by a group of residents and members of the SJCAG steering group who want to elect a full committee to run the SJCAG which now has just two elected officers in post.
The SJCAG agreed to an EGM despite the annual AGM being scheduled for April-May 2014.
A statement from the petitioners circulated on February 10, said: “We petitioned for an election open to all of new officers to lead on the three priorities mandated by the community at our first AGM in April 2013: Cleaning and Greening, Community Priorities for Community Policing and a Shared Space Scheme for St James’s Street.”
In explaining why they had petitioned for the EGM meeting, they said: “Since our first AGM in April 2013 when officers were elected: the Chair, Communications Officer and Secretary have been absent and no one has taken their place or fulfilled their roles at any public meeting of St James’s Community Action Group. The only elected officers to have fulfilled their roles were the Vice Chair who chaired every meeting June to September and resigned in October and the Treasurer who remained in place attending every meeting until resigning last week.”
To find factual details of what SJCAG have achieved in the last 18 months, CLICK HERE:
What: SJCAG EGM
Where: St Mary’s Church, corner of St James Street and Upper Rock Gardens
When: Wednesday, February 12
Time: 7pm
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