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19
Oct 2022
Harrogate councillor calls for officer to be sacked over abusive Twitter account
The leader of Harrogate and Knaresborough's Liberal Democrats has called for the dismissal of a senior council officer after the Stray Ferret revealed yesterday he was behind an anonymous, abusive Twitter account.
Steve Rogers, Harrogate Borough Council's parking enforcement manager, used the handle @ChippyGlory to send abusive and obscene tweets -— many directed at Liberal Democrat councillors.
Pat Marsh says she will be raising the issue as a matter of urgency with the council's chief executive, Wallace Sampson, at a meeting tomorrow.
Cllr Marsh says the revelation that the tweets came from a council officer are deeply unsettling.
Many of Mr Rogers tweets were sexist and some explicit and obscene towards women.
Cllr Marsh, said she is angry that Mr Rogers has been tweeting for so long and will asking the council to take the following action:
- That Mr Rogers is removed form a position where he has any daily supervision and work programming responsibilities with female members of staff.
- That the council fully explores any other tweets of a similar nature that The Stray Ferret may have and are not publishing at this moment.
- Investigate if the tweets were made using council equipment during the actual working hours i.e. was he engaging in this activity during time he was being paid by the council.
In yesterday's report, the Stray Ferret published a particularly abusive tweet Mr Rogers posted about the New Park Liberal Democrat councillor Matthew Webber. It was done with the consent of Cllr Webber to illustrate the nature of @ChippyGlory's posts.
Cllr Marsh paid tribute to Cllr Webber and said he was brave to agree to the tweet being published:
She added that Cllrs Philip Broadbank and Chris Aldred who were also targeted by Mr Rogers have given years of service to the town of Harrogate:
Read More:
- EXCLUSIVE: Senior Harrogate council officer’s abusive and obscene Twitter account
- Harrogate cyclists urged to be vigilant after spate of bike thefts
Conservative councillor Nick Brown who was also the subject of Mr Rogers' derogatory tweets has called for his immediate suspension whilst the council investigates him.
The Stray Ferret will ask the council for a response to the councillors' demands.
Yesterday a spokesperson said:
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