Saturday, May 01, 2010

Oakham Town Clerk Goes off Sick

Oakham Town Clerk goes of Sick accusing Cllr Martin Brookes of being a bully.
This after The Town Clerk was awarded an inflation busting 10% +  pay rise.


Cllr Martin Brookes has been invited to a private meeting he denies being a bully. He has been subjected to bullying from Oakham Town Council.

Cllr Brookes wrote to members.

Dear Members,

I request under the Freedom of Information Act and Data Protection Act the following.

Please provide me with all copies of all emails sent and received on the council computers, via all email accounts, and all copies of letters and any other correspondence that relates to me. This includes notes and memos.

Mr Beech and other former councillors communicated with the town clerk, this information is very important and should must not be deleted.

The Town Council has a duty to keep all communications and show them when requested.

I also request the Town Council secures all computers and email accounts and changes passwords, now the Town Clerk has chosen to go off sick accusing me of bullying him.

On March the 3rd I became a Town Councillor, Councillor Sharon Sharon Spencer held a meeting with myself and Cllr Joyce Lucas at this meeting, Cllr Sharon Spencer told me the Town Clerk was stressed and if I visited him and spoke about the former councillors who had been bullying me for the past year, it could be seen that I was bullying him. Before this meeting The Town Clerk expressed his concerns, I felt he was a victim of bullying by former members. Mr Beech had visited and asked Mr White to get rid of me earlier that evening  I am assuming this is why the Chairman and Deputy Chairman and Town Clerk delayed the signing of my acceptance forms.

At the meeting I suggested The Town Council gave Mr White a holiday to assist with his stress.

The next morning I called into the office and spoke to The Town Clerk and mentioned the issue of bullying, The Town Clerk told me I was not bullying.

As weeks past, I told the Town Clerk I felt he was bullying me, he often shouted at me. After many discussions our relationship seemed to improve. He even stated keep your head down as many people were wishing to shoot my head off!

I have often asked the Town Clerk questions relating to his work. It is my view he is overpaid and his recent pay rise of 10% is disgusting.

I popped into the Councillor's surgery this morning and a Councillor requested I attend a meeting on  Wednesday morning. I asked why? and was told The Town Clerk Richard White has chosen to go off sick stating the following reason, 'I have been bullying him.'

The Town Clerk only the other week objected to me speaking about the expensive contract relating to the bandstand and the £15,000 he has lost the tax payer relating to the toilets. He then said he was looking into the possibility that I was bullying him.

The Town Clerk also spoke to the press and brought the council into disrepute and now admits to us all this was wrong. I asked him many times via email to deal with the matter correctly. this was copied to members. Due to members not speaking to me or responding to my correspondence I often had to speak to Richard White The Town Clerk. I have never bullied the Town Clerk. I will not be attending the meeting. I believe The Town Council has no authority to call me to a meeting of this nature. If the Council had wished me to consider attending a private meeting a notification and details of the meetings content would be appropriate.

This is clearly another example of the Chairman's and Deputy Chairman's incompetence.

It is my view the Town Clerk unlike his friends who resigned can not just resign because he feels he has lot to loose.

The Town Clerk often spent a lot of his paid time monitoring my Internet sites.

One last point to members Cllr Lucas constantly lies or someone is pretending to be her, when I spoke to her about the letters in the press, she stated I don't write to the papers. I refer to another letter in this weeks Rutland Mercury.

Cllr Martin Brookes