Mayoral referendum: What do people in Easton think?

With the mayoral referendum just days away, Bristol24/7 is visiting different areas of our city to find out how people will be voting, if they are voting at all.

The question that the referendum on May 5 will be asking is whether Bristol wants to retain the current mayoral model, or replace it with a committee system.

Here is what people in Easton think:

Sipan, a taxi driver from Easton

Sipan is concerned that the mayor’s decision-making process is not public enough – photo: Mia Vines Booth

“Isn’t it better that the committee makes the decision rather than one person behind the door and nobody knows what they are doing?

“They make a decision behind the doors and it gives an advantage to rich people in Bristol. But if there is a committee, at least there will be some different people in it who can make decisions.”

Phoebe and Zoe, both waitresses at Garden of Easton

Phoebe is leaning towards voting to scrap the mayor as she has seen little impact in her home town – photo: Mia Vines Booth

Phoebe

“Specifically the system with mayors and stuff, I don’t really understand the impact it has, in comparison to local government. I don’t know how much influence the mayor has and it differentiates in different cities.

“I’m from a fairly small town near Brighton where the mayor has virtually no impact on everything that is going on. So maybe I’m more leaning towards getting rid of it.

“If I knew more about it I would maybe be more interested in it. The only thing I heard about it was when I got it through the post two days ago.”

Zoe

“I had no idea. I moved here in the end of December. It’s not something I discuss with people. I’m not really into politics. If I lived here for a long time I’d definitely dive deep into it.”

Rose, volunteer worker

Rose questioned how diverse and equal the committee system would really be – photo: Mia Vines Booth

“I have heard of it. But would it be equally diverse and diversely represented? If it is going to be different, is whoever’s there going to represent everyone equally?

“I know he has done things. We used to see him down here quite regularly. We don’t see him half as much.

“A lot of people had certain things to say about Ferguson but the one thing I’d say about him is you saw him everywhere. And I like that. Certain places I’ve been, I would expect to see Marvin there, but I never saw him there.”

Monet, undertaking a masters in architecture at UE

Monet is worried about how far a committee system would would give her own community in Easton a voice – photo: Mia Vines Booth

“I know about it. I don’t have anything against him as a mayor. I think there are some decisions I don’t necessarily agree with but I’m also quite impressed with some of the ways that he’s dealt with specific things – you don’t really get honest answers from politicians a lot of the time.

“They always say, you know, there is the opportunity to get your voice heard if you want to say something.

“But especially in Easton there are so many people that are from so many different cultures, and they are either first or second generation from a different country.

“The school around the corner has the highest amount of funding in the whole area for kids whose parents don’t speak English.

“So, a lot of those kids’ parents don’t necessarily tap into the channels that are there for people to make their opinions heard and therefore they still don’t have a voice.

“And as a result, it’s all very well for young white middle-class girls like me to make my voice heard because I feel privileged and I have a space to do so. But if you’re not from that demographic, you might not have that and you might not feel like you know what to do.

“I see it through the lens of this whole black and white thing. There’s all these buzzwords but it’s never that simple.”

Tony, 48, postman from Eastville

Although Marvin Rees is his neighbour, Tony has heard little about the election – photo: Mia Vines Booth

“I know about it, but I don’t know much about it. I haven’t done any research or reading on it. I’m still thinking about it. [Marvin Rees] is alright I guess. He’s my neighbour. I just see him taking the garbage out.”

Greg and Harry, Easton Sickle Cell Centre volunteers

Greg thinks the mayor is an important figurehead for the city – photo: Mia Vines Booth

Greg

“They’re going to scrap the mayor. My personal opinion is that I think the mayor is actually quite good. You know why I think the mayor is quite good?

“Because it’s that figurehead isn’t it, and he highlights Bristol quite well. Yeah Bristol before, nothing ever got done. And he’s projecting Bristol quite well.”

Harry

“He’s got the authority to do things, whereas the council itself, they just argue, don’t they? But he can get it done.”

Harry, 26 and Lewis, 25 both work at Ovo Energy Company

Harry and Lewis both agree they need to do more research – photo: Mia Vines Booth

“It’s something I don’t feel like I know enough about. It sounds interesting and it seems like a good idea. I think we got a leaflet about it but that was about it. I don’t think I know the pros and cons enough.

“I think I want to find more out about the committees because I think I could be persuaded to that.”

Bristol24/7 will be hosting a Twitter Space on Tuesday, May 3 at 7pm where people in favour of retaining the mayoral system and people who want to change to a committee system will be invited to speak

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read more: Mayoral system: what do people in Hillfields think?

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