This morning so far I have received two emails from Cllr Adam Lowe.
Both rather farcical. I have told Cllr Lowe and his supporters I will not be leaving the
council, He and his supporters are spending 100% of their time trying to achieve
this and not actually doing what is required of Councillors, What they can not see is how
daft they are looking and how people are starting to notice their obsession is costing the
tax payers a fortune. I am beginning to think Cllr Lowe is not very well. His emails are
are quite a mess like the last report he put to council full of false statements and spelling
mistakes a lot worse than mine.
I have a couple of issues of proper council business I would like to raise but due to
the continued conduct of Cllr Lowe and the old guard it is impossible to do.
Martin
Thank you for the e-mail outling a version of what I know happened.
However there are elemetns of the complaint that I cannot disclose in e-mail
as it is cponfidential and could be damaging for you, so where as I will share
your e-mails with staffing it is still not a complete version or exaimin all the details.
Martin, I would rather not be having to deal with these issues, however I am unable
to sweep these complaints under the carpet, that is what you are implying to me.
At the end of the day you have had complaints raised agaisnt you and you are
acting in the same cavalier, reckless and maverick manner.
As a Councillor you are bound by the Nolan Principles and your replies yet again
reflect the contempt you have for them.
I will do an investigation and present to Council, the Council will determine if you
have conducted yourself as described int he complaint.
When it comes to Council I will ensure I abstein from any vote should that point arise.
This is to demonstrate how impartial I am trying to be, and as for all the other advice,
this is not mine it is others, you can choose to ignore any advice you choose, that is
your choice and I respect that as your decision.
I feel further communication for the time being may not be helpful and as a result I
will not comment further in e-mail to you on this subject.
Regards
Adam Lowe
My Response:
Dear Adam
What do you not understand about the law that does not permit you to conduct any investigation into the conduct of any member.
In you last email you have changed the allegations from slander and harassment to bullying intimidation etc.
You should not bring this matter to council on the 10th August, the content of your email below shows you have already made me guilty of whatever? It appears you are preparing some sort of Kangaroo court.
Impartial?? Adam you are joking? This coming from a man who told me Oakham Town Council does not like gay people.
Please supply me with full copies of the allegations made by the staff against me.
From
Martin Brookes
Sent: Monday, August 01, 2016 at 9:02 AM
From: "Adam Lowe"
To: "Martin Brookes"
Subject: Re: Meeting Tuesday
Martin
As you point out I have not banned you from the Office.
As regards the Office not taking your calls, the Officers have a right to be treated in a certin way and the complaints I have recieved from them is that you have acted in an intimidateing and bullying manner, that is their complaint.
The Offciers are perfectly within their rights to refuse to take calls or answer the door to a person who is acting in a threatening, bullying and intimidateing manner and I belive that the Clerk will be advising you of the approach the Office have to such people.
As you point out I cannot investigate a Cllr conduct, I am not doing that.
I am investigateing, as Chairman of the Council, welfare issues regarding the employed Officers.
All Cllrs are basically the employers of the Officers at the Council, this has been confirmed and the welfare of those Officers is all our concerns, as said they have reported you to me because of your conduct.
You were invited to the meeting to help establish if their complaints were/are valid, you have refused, this means I can only take into account their version of the events.
Martin, I see you have sent an e-mail refusing any mail contact from the Chairman and the Council as a whole.
I understand that the Clerk has identied under the rules which goven Councils all agendas must be delivered by post to the Cllr's home address, the Clerk will not allow you or any Cllr to collect agendas and other documents.
In affect you have inhibited your own ability by your actions and behaviour to be a Councillor.
Can you review this approach and advise, by e-mail which appears to be an acceptable medium still, how you like the Council to get agenda items to you, in other words can these be posted to you?
To enable a speedy investigation and resolution of the complaints agaisnt you by the Officers I am looking to address these through a staffing meeting and bring to Council on August 10th.
Regards
Adam Lowe
My Response
Dear Adam
I have not bullied any of the staff, I have a recording of Allison telling me that she told you that the Clerk acted
in properly last Monday. I told her I would not publish that part of the recording.
I have only met the Clerk (locum) twice first time was fine and the second time was not so good and that
was due to his conduct.
Your email and conduct towards me is unhelpful.
As for the agenda I suggest the Clerk looks at the changes in rules a agenda no longer has to be posted and can
be delivered electronically. I chose to collect mine and as you say I am not banned from the office I will
continue to save the tax payers a few pounds in postage.
This statement is an utter lie The Officer's are perfectly within their rights to refuse to take calls or answer the door to a person who is acting in a threatening, bullying and intimidating manner and I believe that the Clerk will be advising you of the approach the Office have to such people.
I never approach any of the staff in this manner. If you watch the video in which Allison admits she has done wrong I am quite light
hearted and even joke that I may have done something wrong.
Please stop these damaging nasty lies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evsNrdhLPyU
I fully understand Allisons concern about the video I have published it exposes the unprofessional nature of the council and
her unprofessional reply.
The video also show another unprofessional part thing and that is the dogs barking at visitors I don't mind the dogs
but I do know other that do have an issue with them.
As for the Clerk (Locum) If he had just referred to the report last Monday as Allison suggested we would not have had any
issue, his conducted towards me was disgraceful.
I can only assume his conduct was prompted by your actions, the way you wrote your conduct report for the agenda
was terrible and you failed to exclude me from parks and planning and the clerk was adamant the council had excluded
me when your report said it had not.
You can take into account my version of events because I have written to you and I have provided a video link.
You said you had drawn another line I don't see that happening and if you do bring this to council on the 10th August
as you say once again the council is going to look very silly. We should be getting on with proper council business and
not this continually hate of me.
If you continue with you homophobic hate campaign against me you are going to see resignations from the council
and it won't be me. Some members have told me they are sick and tired of this.
From
Martin Brookes
Friday, July 29, 2016
The Mayor Adam Lowe has banned me from communicating or visiting the staff at Oakham Town Council
The Mayor Adam Lowe has banned me from communicating or visiting the staff at Oakham Town Council interfering once again with my work as a parish Councillor.
Letter from Mayor
Voice Mail from the Mayor Adam Lowe. (my calls may be recorded and used in evidence? so it's fine for him to record but not for me?)
Cllr Lowe has decided to conduct his own investigation. Although a parish council can not lawfully investigate the conduct of any member. Alleged matters of conduct should be reported to the monitoring office and it is for them to decide if a complaint should be investigated.
Cllr Lowe telephoned and wrote to me about two complaints the first being connected to this blog post.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Oakham Town Council Assistant Clerk Allison Greaves we are all guilty of making the Council look dysfunctional
Yesterday Oakham Mayor Cllr Lowe forwarded me an email from our assistant Clerk
I strongly believe this was a deliberate act.
I popped to the council about another matter this morning and after yesterdays incident
with the locum clerk I switched on my camera for protection.
I was pleased to hear Allison had told the Mayor Adam Lowe what happened was not
my fault but the fault of the locum clerk. Although I don't blame him entirely I know
he is only acting upon the instructions of the idiotic people who think they lead this council
it is a shame Malcolm Plumb has decided not to remain impartial and support Adam Lowe and Co.
When I arrived Allison was on the phone and preparing a email to send to me shown below
She read what she was sending to me show in video.
I fully agree with her the council is dysfunctional, I don't agree that she is responsible for that.
The responsibility for that belongs to the old guard now led by Cllr Adam Lowe who is a nasty
bully and it is not all members of the council.
Cllr Lowe has since responded to Allison's email and also talks about drawing a line.
How many more lines can he draw?
Some one commented to me today "Oakham Town Council must has have very straight
ruler all the lines they keep drawing.
Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2016 at 11:39 AM
From: "Allison Greaves"
To: "'Martin Brookes'"
Subject: RE: Remembrance Service
Hi Martin
I’m sure Adam forwarded it on in error. However, albeit I may have offended you, I do feel at times that we are all guilty of making the Council look dysfunctional and I hope that we can draw a line under the whole episode and try to continue our work in a more positive frame of mind.
Allison
Cllr Lowe states:
A complaint has been made of harassment from the Assistant Clerk, the brief detail is that
you recorded and videoed her without he knowledge and then posted the recording on a social media site, when you were asked to remove it you refused.
It does not surprise me Cllr Lowe no longer works for Leicestershire Police.
He has no understanding of the definitions of the law. This is not harassment yes Allison
is annoyed I have published the video and her email. The council and her should have been more professional. In the video the Allison admits she did wrong. Although it could be considered that her response to me is unprofessional nothing she has said is untrue.
Oakham Town Council is dysfunctional and has been for many years the last time
it was publicly reported was in 2009 by Rutland County Council
The CPS definition of harassment clearly show this can not be applied to this matter.
Harassment
In this legal guidance, the term harassment is used to cover the 'causing alarm or distress' offences under section 2 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 as amended (PHA), and 'putting people in fear of violence' offences under section 4 of the PHA. The term can also include harassment by two or more defendants against an individual or harassment against more than one victim.
Although harassment is not specifically defined in section 7(2) of the PHA, it can include repeated attempts to impose unwanted communications and contact upon a victim in a manner that could be expected to cause distress or fear in any reasonable person.
The definition of harassment was considered in Plavelil v Director of Public Prosecutions [2014] EWHC 736 (Admin), in which it was held that the repeated making of false and malicious assertions against a doctor in connection with an investigation by the GMC could amount to a course of harassment. The Court of Appeal rejected the argument that malicious allegations could not be oppressive if they could easily be rebutted.
A prosecution under section 2 or 4 requires proof of harassment. In addition, there must be evidence to prove the conduct was targeted at an individual, was calculated to alarm or cause him/her distress, and was oppressive and unreasonable.
Closely connected groups may also be subjected to 'collective' harassment. The primary intention of this type of harassment is not generally directed at an individual but rather at members of a group. This could include: members of the same family; residents of a particular neighbourhood; groups of a specific identity including ethnicity or sexuality, for example, the racial harassment of the users of a specific ethnic community centre; harassment of a group of disabled people; harassment of gay clubs; or of those engaged in a specific trade or profession.
Harassment of an individual can also occur when a person is harassing others connected with the individual, knowing that this behaviour will affect their victim as well as the other people that the person appears to be targeting their actions towards. This is known as 'stalking by proxy'. Family members, friends and employees of the victim may be subjected to this.
The second complaint from the Locum Clerk Malcolm Plumb relates to this blog post:
Monday, July 25, 2016
Oakham Town Council interim Clerk Malcolm Plumb
This morning I had an interesting conversation with our interim Clerk
It did not go to well.
He tells me that Rutland County Councils Monitoring Officer Debbie Mogg did not say in her report "Oakham Town Council as whole has not worked well " and neither did the report state I reacted to members and two members don't make a right. I suggested he has not read the reports.
He said I imagined it, great another person at Oakham Town Council that can not read.
Fortunately I can.
During our discussion I raised issue which is well documented but most members of Oakham
Town Council are not aware of. Malcolm has a typical trait of many people who work in
local governance, he finds it offensive that I ask questions based on what I read in the press.
He threatened me with the police.
After reading archive news reports, letters and a public interest reports about Awsworth parish council were Malcolm was once a Clerk until earlier this year. I can see why the old guard at Oakham Town Council were keen to employ him. It is my opinion he is not going to rock the boat and will do as they want him to do.
I quote one major concern I have found published by the Linolnshire Free Press on most of their sites.
"The £61,500 of VAT money was not lost through an “auditing error” – it was lost through the gross incompetence of the then clerk."
Malcolm said I am libeling him for asking a question about this.
I dare not ask him any questions about the following headlines.
Council not ‘cleared of wrongdoing’
Council told to work together better
I also asked why most of the minutes are missing from the website.
http://www.awsworthparishcouncil.co.uk/minutes/minutes-for-2012
Malcolm Plumb complaint is:
A complaint from the locum clerk, the brief detail is that you have posted, unfounded and
false allegations about the Clerk, as a result slandering him on a social media site.
I simply state the facts about his conduct towards me on Monday and I refer to newspaper reports and press letters about his former parish council. I forgot to mention that the Assistant
Clerk told me and the Mayor that the conduct of the Clerk on Monday was wrong.
Cllr Lowe has requested I attend a meeting with him on Tuesday 2nd August at 6pm with a friend as chaperone. I will not be attending.
Letter from Mayor
Voice Mail from the Mayor Adam Lowe. (my calls may be recorded and used in evidence? so it's fine for him to record but not for me?)
Cllr Lowe has decided to conduct his own investigation. Although a parish council can not lawfully investigate the conduct of any member. Alleged matters of conduct should be reported to the monitoring office and it is for them to decide if a complaint should be investigated.
Cllr Lowe telephoned and wrote to me about two complaints the first being connected to this blog post.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Oakham Town Council Assistant Clerk Allison Greaves we are all guilty of making the Council look dysfunctional
Yesterday Oakham Mayor Cllr Lowe forwarded me an email from our assistant Clerk
I strongly believe this was a deliberate act.
I popped to the council about another matter this morning and after yesterdays incident
with the locum clerk I switched on my camera for protection.
I was pleased to hear Allison had told the Mayor Adam Lowe what happened was not
my fault but the fault of the locum clerk. Although I don't blame him entirely I know
he is only acting upon the instructions of the idiotic people who think they lead this council
it is a shame Malcolm Plumb has decided not to remain impartial and support Adam Lowe and Co.
When I arrived Allison was on the phone and preparing a email to send to me shown below
She read what she was sending to me show in video.
I fully agree with her the council is dysfunctional, I don't agree that she is responsible for that.
The responsibility for that belongs to the old guard now led by Cllr Adam Lowe who is a nasty
bully and it is not all members of the council.
Cllr Lowe has since responded to Allison's email and also talks about drawing a line.
How many more lines can he draw?
Some one commented to me today "Oakham Town Council must has have very straight
ruler all the lines they keep drawing.
Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2016 at 11:39 AM
From: "Allison Greaves"
To: "'Martin Brookes'"
Subject: RE: Remembrance Service
Hi Martin
I’m sure Adam forwarded it on in error. However, albeit I may have offended you, I do feel at times that we are all guilty of making the Council look dysfunctional and I hope that we can draw a line under the whole episode and try to continue our work in a more positive frame of mind.
Allison
Cllr Lowe states:
A complaint has been made of harassment from the Assistant Clerk, the brief detail is that
you recorded and videoed her without he knowledge and then posted the recording on a social media site, when you were asked to remove it you refused.
It does not surprise me Cllr Lowe no longer works for Leicestershire Police.
He has no understanding of the definitions of the law. This is not harassment yes Allison
is annoyed I have published the video and her email. The council and her should have been more professional. In the video the Allison admits she did wrong. Although it could be considered that her response to me is unprofessional nothing she has said is untrue.
Oakham Town Council is dysfunctional and has been for many years the last time
it was publicly reported was in 2009 by Rutland County Council
The CPS definition of harassment clearly show this can not be applied to this matter.
Harassment
In this legal guidance, the term harassment is used to cover the 'causing alarm or distress' offences under section 2 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 as amended (PHA), and 'putting people in fear of violence' offences under section 4 of the PHA. The term can also include harassment by two or more defendants against an individual or harassment against more than one victim.
Although harassment is not specifically defined in section 7(2) of the PHA, it can include repeated attempts to impose unwanted communications and contact upon a victim in a manner that could be expected to cause distress or fear in any reasonable person.
The definition of harassment was considered in Plavelil v Director of Public Prosecutions [2014] EWHC 736 (Admin), in which it was held that the repeated making of false and malicious assertions against a doctor in connection with an investigation by the GMC could amount to a course of harassment. The Court of Appeal rejected the argument that malicious allegations could not be oppressive if they could easily be rebutted.
A prosecution under section 2 or 4 requires proof of harassment. In addition, there must be evidence to prove the conduct was targeted at an individual, was calculated to alarm or cause him/her distress, and was oppressive and unreasonable.
Closely connected groups may also be subjected to 'collective' harassment. The primary intention of this type of harassment is not generally directed at an individual but rather at members of a group. This could include: members of the same family; residents of a particular neighbourhood; groups of a specific identity including ethnicity or sexuality, for example, the racial harassment of the users of a specific ethnic community centre; harassment of a group of disabled people; harassment of gay clubs; or of those engaged in a specific trade or profession.
Harassment of an individual can also occur when a person is harassing others connected with the individual, knowing that this behaviour will affect their victim as well as the other people that the person appears to be targeting their actions towards. This is known as 'stalking by proxy'. Family members, friends and employees of the victim may be subjected to this.
The second complaint from the Locum Clerk Malcolm Plumb relates to this blog post:
Monday, July 25, 2016
Oakham Town Council interim Clerk Malcolm Plumb
This morning I had an interesting conversation with our interim Clerk
It did not go to well.
He tells me that Rutland County Councils Monitoring Officer Debbie Mogg did not say in her report "Oakham Town Council as whole has not worked well " and neither did the report state I reacted to members and two members don't make a right. I suggested he has not read the reports.
He said I imagined it, great another person at Oakham Town Council that can not read.
Fortunately I can.
During our discussion I raised issue which is well documented but most members of Oakham
Town Council are not aware of. Malcolm has a typical trait of many people who work in
local governance, he finds it offensive that I ask questions based on what I read in the press.
He threatened me with the police.
After reading archive news reports, letters and a public interest reports about Awsworth parish council were Malcolm was once a Clerk until earlier this year. I can see why the old guard at Oakham Town Council were keen to employ him. It is my opinion he is not going to rock the boat and will do as they want him to do.
I quote one major concern I have found published by the Linolnshire Free Press on most of their sites.
"The £61,500 of VAT money was not lost through an “auditing error” – it was lost through the gross incompetence of the then clerk."
Malcolm said I am libeling him for asking a question about this.
I dare not ask him any questions about the following headlines.
Council not ‘cleared of wrongdoing’
Council told to work together better
I also asked why most of the minutes are missing from the website.
http://www.awsworthparishcouncil.co.uk/minutes/minutes-for-2012
Malcolm Plumb complaint is:
A complaint from the locum clerk, the brief detail is that you have posted, unfounded and
false allegations about the Clerk, as a result slandering him on a social media site.
I simply state the facts about his conduct towards me on Monday and I refer to newspaper reports and press letters about his former parish council. I forgot to mention that the Assistant
Clerk told me and the Mayor that the conduct of the Clerk on Monday was wrong.
Cllr Lowe has requested I attend a meeting with him on Tuesday 2nd August at 6pm with a friend as chaperone. I will not be attending.
