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18
Sept
Ripon City Council to elect new mayor after series of resignations
Ripon City Council is set to elect a new mayor after a series of resignations this past week.
It comes after Cllr Jackie Crozier and her deputy, Cllr Gary Camplejohn, resigned as mayor and deputy mayor at a meeting on Monday (September 15).
Seven councillors submitted a vote of no confidence in Cllr Crozier at an extraordinary council meeting. However, she had already resigned before a vote could be held.
Now, a new mayor is set to be elected at a meeting on Monday (September 22) at Ripon Town Hall. The meeting will start from 6pm.
The move comes amid a week of political turbulence at the city council.
The resignations of Cllr Crozier and Cllr Camplejohn followed last week’s decisions by Councillor Andrew Williams and Councillor Peter Horton to stand down as leader and deputy leader, respectively.
Cllr Andrew Williams
The decisions by Cllr Williams and Cllr Horton to resign came amid a proposal by rebel councillors, which included Cllr Barbara Brodigan and Cllr Pauline McHardy, to abolish the roles of leader and deputy leader at the authority.
The move to remove the positions were seen by many as a challenge to Cllr Williams’ authority on the council. Cllr Crozier was also a political ally of the leader.
But, speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the meeting on Monday, Cllr Brodigan said the no-confidence vote and the removal of the leader and deputy leader positions were prompted by the departure of three members of staff and the officers’ interactions with the council’s staffing committee, which includes councillors Williams, Horton and Crozier.
She added:
This doesn’t look good for the council, but we are trying to bring the council back into a place where all councillors and staff are treated with respect and treated equally, and that has not been the case.
We have been accused of being divisive, but we are the ones trying to sort it out and make sure we all work together.
Recently, we lost three members of staff, including our chief operating officer, who has served Ripon City Council for nine years. The reasons for their departure have to remain confidential, but our action has been prompted by these resignations.
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