James
Bond
and
the
Man
from
Riverside
James
Bond, he was not. But the Man from
Riverside had an air of mystery and intrigue
that had an echo of the legendary British secret agent. It was an echo that
made people wonder what exactly the Man
from Riverside was up to.
On
the one hand, he was very ready with some very good advice about how to go
about things when dealing with his organisation, Riverside Housing Association.
His
very good advice , he explained- at a
meeting of Riverside tenants- was so
very good because it came from the very heart of that organisation, 100 miles
away in Liverpool. That was where the
Man from Riverside operated, he said.
On
the other hand, the Man from Riverside
seemed to be man with a mission...wanting to change things within that organisation. His very good
advice seemed to be offered so that
those at the meeting would join his crusade to clean up Riverside.
It was all very surprising and a bit baffling,
particularly when the Man from Riverside said he had been asked to stay away
from the meeting.
Who
had asked him to stay away, the Man from Riverside was asked.”That, I cannot
tell you” was his puzzling reply
The
meeting was in Longtown and the Man from Riverside had arrived unannounced.
He
then sat in the back row, behind 25
Longtown tenants as they discussed forming themselves into a tenants` group.
The
meeting was the latest episode in the tenants`two-year fight for proper heating
in their homes following a botched Riverside scheme for solar panels in 175
Longtown homes.
During
the meeting, the Man from Riverside gave his name and his Riverside job. Then
came his “ very good advice” and his
appeal to the tenants to join his
crusade.
Finally, he promised to attend the next Longtown meeting in a week`s
time.
Sure
enough, he did attend. But the Man from Riverside was a changed man. He still
wanted to help and even offered to bring a Riverside director to help the
tenants get answers to their problems.
But he was aggressive too and went strongly on the attack when there was
criticism of his bosses at Riverside.
The
Man from Riverside was becoming more and
more baffling.
But
the most baffling episode was still to come.
It
came in a phone call excusing himself from attendance at a third meeting- he
said he had to go into hospital for heart tests. But the Man from Riverside had
good news to relate.
“Riverside
is going to put everything right for the tenants” he said. “It will all be
underway by the next meeting.”
The
news was very improbable and certainly unbelievable.
“
Don`t ask me how I know” he added mysteriously.
Then,
surprisingly, the Man from Riverside said something about a drink(coffee) that seemed to have another
real echo of James Bond himself. Bond, of course, was famous for preferring his drink (Martini ) “shaken
not stirred.”
The
Man from Riverside said: “Riverside has at last woken up and smelled the coffee”
But
by then, the Longtown tenants had smelled something else.
