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21
Oct
Another extraordinary night at Ripon City Council
Spontaneous cheers – from some, but not all – greeted the return of Councillor Jackie Crozier to the Ripon council chamber yesterday evening (October 20).
The fourth extraordinary meeting of the city council in recent weeks began in dramatic style when the former mayor, who served for 132 days, arrived two minutes ahead of the start.
In the absence of her chaplain, Cllr Brodigan, with locum clerk Adam Chugg at her side, led the prayer for a peaceful meeting
Cllr Crozier’s return meant the numbers for the opposing new and old leadership factions were level at five councillors apiece. New mayor Lib Deb Cllr Barbara Brodigan has the casting vote.
The most significant item on the agenda was the appointment of a locum clerk, following the resignation of former chief officer Paula Benson, who quit her £57,000 per annum job in September.
But the press and public were left hanging as the debate on whether to appoint Adam Chugg as temporary clerk was held behind closed doors.
Where was Councillor Hawke?
Councillor Hawke, who voted for his deputy Cllr Crozier to succeed him as mayor, is pictured with her as they entered Ripon Cathedral on May 6 for the installation service.
The expected resignation of Cllr Sid Hawke did not happen as the four-times Ripon mayor was absent from the meeting.
Cllr Hawke told the Stray Ferret on Friday afternoon that he would be stepping down as a councillor after 23 years of serving the city at parish, district and county council levels.
The reason for his absence was not given, but after the meeting Cllr Hawke responded to a call from the Stray Ferret and said:
I’ve been suffering from severe stress for the past couple of weeks and did not feel well enough to attend, but I will give an update as soon as I can.
Unanswered questions
In the section at the start of the meeting in which the public are invited to 'question, seek clarification or make representation to members of the council on any agenda item' Ripon resident Brian McHugh asked about Mr Chugg's appointment and his previous employment.
Mr McHugh asked:
Under what powers granted to this council has Mr Chugg been appointed to act so far?
Who has been paying him up to now? And who authorised this payment?
At present, there is no chair of the human resources committee- so which councillor has made the recommendation for agenda item 180/25 before a chair has been appointed?
As this part of the meeting is to ask questions and seek clarification- I will therefore wait for your answers.
Seven into six won't go
The newly formed human resources committee is seen as a key mechanism to get the council operating smoothly again after three staff departures over summer.
Jo Bate was named as chair at a meeting she did not attend but said shortly afterwards she had resigned.
The constitution of the new human resources committee came into question last night.
Seven members were originally selected for a committee with only six places on it, and Cllr Andrew Williams accused Cllrs Brodigan and McHardy of maladministration.
He said:
I'm raising a point of order about the maladministration, which appears to be going on in this council. You could not have had a vacancy for chair (of the human resources committee) unless Cllr Bate had been elected to the committee.
She was elected, according to the press report, as the chairman for 15 minutes before resigning. So consequently, there has to be vacancy on the committee. And I'd like to question why that isn't on our agenda this evening.
Members of the public and media had to leave the council chamber when councillors went into private session
Cllr Pauline McHardy, who was put forward as the replacement chair of the human resources committee following Cllr Bate's resignation, accused Cllr Williams of deliberately attempting to cause unnecessary hold-ups that would delay the appointment of three new staff. She said the staff:
Are desperately needed to support Adam (Mr Chugg) in his work, as he is currently our only member of the administration team.
But Cllr McHardy was stopped in her tracks by Cllr Julie Ann Martin-Long, who said:
Cllr Williams has a valid point and we need to ensure that we do things properly.
Cllr Martin-Long subsequently seconded Cllr Williams' proposal that the whole issue of the human resources committee, including who chairs it and which councillors will be on it, be brought back to the next full council meeting.
As matters relating to the human resources committee are still to be resolved, question marks still hang over the make-up of the human resources committee.
The Stray Ferret is seeking answers about the situation.
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