www.hackneyindependent.org/term/index.php?option=com_co -
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Published on: 2/19/2002
Last Visited: 7/5/2009
Two men, above all, bear responsibility for the failure to halt Hackney's descent into chaos: Jules Pipe, leader of the council, and managing director Max Caller.
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Mr Pipe has given stalwart support to Hackney's managing director Max Caller, known widely throughout the borough as "Mad Max".
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Mr Caller was the former chief executive at Barnet and applied for the Hackney job after reading an advertisement which warned applicants that Hackney had "an absence of coherent political leadership, a disconnection between strategy and operation, poor financial management and a lack of focus on basic services".
Mr Caller, who earns £150,000 a year, says he is doing his utmost to tackle these problems, although many feel his best is not good enough.
When he turned 50 last summer, a group of Hackney residents arrived at the town hall with a birthday card that suggested he take early retirement.
According to town hall lore, he is preoccupied by concerns over his personal security after a number of threats.
He has a secure car parking space and an elaborate alarm system at his home that is said to have cost the council £40,000.