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16
Oct
By-election, parish poll and another extraordinary meeting all loom in Ripon
Ripon City Council is to hold a fourth extraordinary meeting in little more than a month as its new leadership aims to implement further changes.
The council has been hampered by the departure of three of its four staff. The fourth went off sick.
The departures, which have been overshadowed by the resignation of former mayor Councillor Jackie Crozier and a proposed public vote of no confidence in her successor Cllr Barbara Brodigan, have hampered the council’s ability to conduct business as it attempts a return to normality.
Councillors will elect a new chair for the human resources committee at the extraordinary meeting on Monday, October 20, which will enable the organisation to begin hiring staff.
They will also consider appointing Adam Chugg as a locum town clerk / chief officer and whether to issue polling cards for the forthcoming Ure Bank by-election, caused by the resignation of Cllr Jo Bate.
Cllr Bate was elected chair of the new human resources committee at a meeting she did not attend last month. She later told the Stray Ferret she had resigned as a councillor shortly before the meeting took place.
People have until October 24 to be nominated for the vacant Ure Bank seat and, if candidates stand, the by-election will be held on November 20.
Parish meeting
A vote of no confidence in the mayor, Cllr Barbara Brodigan, will take place at a parish meeting at Holy Trinity Church on November 3.
The outcome of the meeting will determine whether to hold a parish poll on whether Riponians have confidence in the new mayor. The poll is likely to cost Ripon council taxpayers between £5,000 and £7,000 and would not be legally binding.
Ripon resident Sandra Craven handed in a motion for a vote of no confidence in Councillor Barbara Brodigan to Ripon City Council on September 25 after the motion received 30 signatures.
An open letter has been sent to Cllr Brodigan urging her and her deputy, Cllr Julie Ann Martin-Long, to resign before the parish meeting takes place.
It says there is strong public feeling about the events that led to Cllr Jackie Crozier stepping down after fellow councillors brought a vote of no confidence against her.
The letter adds:
Many public complaints have been received by North Yorkshire Council’s monitoring officer and this reflects badly on Ripon City Council. The significant numbers of the public attending the EGMs and the tone and tenor of these meetings, reflect the division in the city that the actions of some Ripon Councillors have caused and continue to cause.
To move the city on, and to ‘draw a line’ under this petty political squabbling and put the residents of Ripon first, we suggest that actions are taken before the public Parish Meeting. We suggest that you and Cllr Martin-Long resign your positions as mayor and deputy mayor; we suggest that you first reverse all decisions that have been taken since that time; and return us to the position as close as possible to the 15th September.
Without these actions being undertaken, the risk will continue that Ripon will have the reputation of having a mayor in which the community has no confidence.
Ms Craven said:
“Residents in Ripon want to offer Cllr Brodigan an opportunity — an opportunity which incidentally was not offered to mayor Crozier — to pause and reflect on how recent events are causing division in our city.
"We hope that Cllr Brodigan moves to a position of listening to the community instead of ignoring the community and understands the strong feeling among residents who feel that democracy is being dismissed.
"If she chooses to forge ahead with the parish meeting and poll, then that choice will incur a financial cost to the Ripon people and she will be accountable for this cost.”
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