Oakham Town Council has been notified by Rutland County Council that there has been no request for an election to ONW Ward following the swift resignation of John Kennedy.
An item for the co-option of a new member to that Ward will be placed on the Council Agenda for the meeting on 10 February 2016.
There are currently two other vacancies which require filling.
Be prepared to be bullied and intimidated by the old guard, especially if you point out
errors in the accounts.
If you ask questions about errors you will be ignored and if you try to raise the issue at the next
meeting you will be kicked out of the meeting.
If you attempt to ask questions about expenditure, which is not clearly described you will be falsely
accused of making an allegation of theft and the deputy Mayor is likely to storm out of the room.
We do have some very decent members serving on the council, sadly the antics of the Mayor Cllr Alf Dewis and His Deputy Cllr Adam Lowe supported my Cllrs Lucas and Stubbs things can
become very tiresome. This year the town council has done little for the community, The
Mayor has spent the time trying to exclude me and writing to members telling them to ignore
me particularly dangerous when I was pointing out dangerous electrical installations. I was aware
of this after a departing Cllr publicly shared his emails.
A Cllr should and has a right to ask questions, the four old Cllrs don't think that is so.
If you are tough and want to help modernise Oakham Town Council and gain a purpose within our
community then please apply for co-option.
If you read the Rutland Times article presented by Cllrs Lowe and Lucas this week, you would
be forgiven for thinking everything is fine at Oakham Town Council, well its not.
Despite requests from myself and others Cllrs we have not received any update relating to
the public surgery they held last week. We learnt more about the surgery from reading the article.
The above video clips are evidence of Oakham Town Councils lack of openness and
transparency about their expenditure and accounting of public money.
At know time did I insinuate Cllr Adam Lowe had stolen money from OTC
He interrupted my question before I simply had the chance to ask for an explanation
about payments poorly described on the payment list.
Since watching the full meeting video many people have said his actions suggest some
thing may be wrong, what that is I don't know?
The second clip was the second meeting of last year, at the AGM I pointed
out a error in the accounts for 2014 -2015, at the second meeting the chairman
Cllr Alf Dewis would not let me point out I had previously highlighted errors
and was ignored. The accounts were back before the council due to errors being
found after they were approved at the AGM the same errors I had attempted to point
out. I was kicked out! the accounts returned to a third meeting, a large sum of money was
spent with Streets accountants who reviewed the accounts and gave advice.
Some of the advice given nearly a year on has been implemented. The crucial points
like changing the accounting systems have not been introduced yet.
The 2014 - 2015 accounts are still with the eternal auditor Grant Thorton
who are looking into disputed payments.
Although we were told some changes would prevent repeats of 2014 - 2015
So far this year we have had two large unauthorised payments and budget over
spending on poorly attended events like the Freedom of Entry.
This happens and no criticism is intended to be directed towards the new
Cllrs who are working very hard to stop this from happening.
Most recently Cllr Lowe produced a tourist information leaflet costing
£199 without seeking approval of the full council as required by law.
None of us can act or incur expenditure unilaterally. If we do we are liable
for the bill. As this sort of conduct is accepted by the old guard I have suggested
I should go out on a spending spree, of course I wont.
I an email to me Cllr Lowe incorrectly states not every decision should
be made at committee. I have politely reminded him that is not true.
An item for the co-option of a new member to that Ward will be placed on the Council Agenda for the meeting on 10 February 2016.
There are currently two other vacancies which require filling.
Be prepared to be bullied and intimidated by the old guard, especially if you point out
errors in the accounts.
If you ask questions about errors you will be ignored and if you try to raise the issue at the next
meeting you will be kicked out of the meeting.
If you attempt to ask questions about expenditure, which is not clearly described you will be falsely
accused of making an allegation of theft and the deputy Mayor is likely to storm out of the room.
We do have some very decent members serving on the council, sadly the antics of the Mayor Cllr Alf Dewis and His Deputy Cllr Adam Lowe supported my Cllrs Lucas and Stubbs things can
become very tiresome. This year the town council has done little for the community, The
Mayor has spent the time trying to exclude me and writing to members telling them to ignore
me particularly dangerous when I was pointing out dangerous electrical installations. I was aware
of this after a departing Cllr publicly shared his emails.
A Cllr should and has a right to ask questions, the four old Cllrs don't think that is so.
If you are tough and want to help modernise Oakham Town Council and gain a purpose within our
community then please apply for co-option.
For any further information please contact the Clerk to the Council using the e-mail link at the top right of this page, ring 01572 723627 or write to the Clerk at the Town Council offices.
If you read the Rutland Times article presented by Cllrs Lowe and Lucas this week, you would
be forgiven for thinking everything is fine at Oakham Town Council, well its not.
Despite requests from myself and others Cllrs we have not received any update relating to
the public surgery they held last week. We learnt more about the surgery from reading the article.
The above video clips are evidence of Oakham Town Councils lack of openness and
transparency about their expenditure and accounting of public money.
At know time did I insinuate Cllr Adam Lowe had stolen money from OTC
He interrupted my question before I simply had the chance to ask for an explanation
about payments poorly described on the payment list.
Since watching the full meeting video many people have said his actions suggest some
thing may be wrong, what that is I don't know?
The second clip was the second meeting of last year, at the AGM I pointed
out a error in the accounts for 2014 -2015, at the second meeting the chairman
Cllr Alf Dewis would not let me point out I had previously highlighted errors
and was ignored. The accounts were back before the council due to errors being
found after they were approved at the AGM the same errors I had attempted to point
out. I was kicked out! the accounts returned to a third meeting, a large sum of money was
spent with Streets accountants who reviewed the accounts and gave advice.
Some of the advice given nearly a year on has been implemented. The crucial points
like changing the accounting systems have not been introduced yet.
The 2014 - 2015 accounts are still with the eternal auditor Grant Thorton
who are looking into disputed payments.
Although we were told some changes would prevent repeats of 2014 - 2015
So far this year we have had two large unauthorised payments and budget over
spending on poorly attended events like the Freedom of Entry.
This happens and no criticism is intended to be directed towards the new
Cllrs who are working very hard to stop this from happening.
Most recently Cllr Lowe produced a tourist information leaflet costing
£199 without seeking approval of the full council as required by law.
None of us can act or incur expenditure unilaterally. If we do we are liable
for the bill. As this sort of conduct is accepted by the old guard I have suggested
I should go out on a spending spree, of course I wont.
I an email to me Cllr Lowe incorrectly states not every decision should
be made at committee. I have politely reminded him that is not true.
