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23
Sept
‘How did it come to this?’, asks man known as Mr Ripon
One of Ripon’s most prominent citizens expressed dismay at recent events at last night’s extraordinary city council meeting.
The acrimonious meeting saw Councillor Barbara Brodigan elected to succeed Cllr Jackie Crozier, who resigned last week.
You can read about the meeting here and an interview with Cllr Bodigan here.
Former Ripon Grammar School student John Richmond became the city’s youngest mayor in 1975 when he was 39 years old. He went on to serve two more terms and was made a freeman of the city in 2004 and awarded a British Empire Medal in 2021 for service to the city.
Mr Richmond, who turns 90 next month, told the fractious meeting:
I never thought that I would ever, ever hear of a situation that now seems to face the city council. We’ve had differences of opinions, but we have always managed to leave in some kind of agreement.
Former mayor John Richmond talking at the meeting.
He added he still did not understand why Cllr Crozier, who remains a councillor but was not present last night, had faced a vote of no confidence “unless she has committed some heinous crime” that people were unaware of.
Mr Richmond told councillors they had put themselves in “an impossible situation” by their actions, adding:
“I hope somebody is going to clear the air and at least tell me and the people who have come what it’s all about. People asked me at church yesterday what it’s all about and I felt such an idiot because I didn’t know.”
Cllr Barbara Brodigan, who was elected mayor last night, previously said the no-confidence vote in Cllr Crozier and the removal of the leader and deputy leader positions previously held by Cllrs Andrew Williams and Peter Horton were prompted by the departure of three members of city council staff and their interactions with the council’s staffing committee, which includes Cllrs Williams, Horton and Crozier.
Cllr Brodigan told the Stray Ferret that “GDPR and employment law” meant some details had to remain confidential but the council hoped to reveal some information in future.
After Cllr Brodigan was elected mayor, Mr Richmond — along with several other members of the public and Cllrs Williams and Horton — left the meeting before it concluded.
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