Dear Mr Goodman
Although at this stage no one from Rutland County Council has told me your name or contact details
and your msn.com email address suggests you are not employed by a company.
I would like to say that I consider all these costly investigations, and past court case, harassment conducted by Oakham Town Council, Rutland County Council and the police and look forward the findings of Leicestershire Police anti corruption units investigation.
This nonsense has been going on for over seven years now.
I must admit since some of the key players at Rutland County Council have gone away things have slightly improved.
Despite all that I will respond to you this once, to help keep the tax payers bill low.
I can not understand why Rutland County Council is wasting further tax payers money.
I was subjected to an investigation conducted by Wilkin Chapman which cost £13,000
even though I did not take part to save tax payers of Rutland a fortune.
The outcome of that investigation was I was sanctioned and natural justice has been ignored, because as I am banned from all committees and working groups with no date set for this to reviewed.
The report found I react to poor conduct. Even Debbie Mogg The Monitoring Officer concluded that the council as a whole
is not working.
If only as much effort to remove me from the council was put into running the councils what a wonderful town and county we would have.
I suggest you watch some of the recent meetings on my you tube channel, it might be helpful to see how the chairman Adam Lowe dictates the rules and then acts the fool and this is starting to annoy even the old guard, at the last meeting Cllr Joyce Lucas complained about his conduct during the meeting. At a previous meeting another member pointed out his poor conduct was being recorded, he turned and looked at the camera and said I am not changing for anything or anyone. He is the main problems at OTC there are a few members like Cllr Lowe who don't think any rules apply to them. I feel some members just don't want to rock the boat like me and accept his very poor conduct. He is also a bully.
Last year I brought a motion to council, to obtain a vote of no confidence in Cllr Adam Lowe being our Mayor after a former Cllr shared emails with me, sent to him by Cllr Adam Lowe to him. I used one for evidence which is attached to our minutes as an appalling example of Cllr Lowes conduct. In that email Cllr Lowe suggests I am prostituting myself to Leicestershire Police Officers, he also told the new councillor I was nuts and should be ignored and avoided, the council found that acceptable.
The main fault with Oakham Town Council is the old guard don't want me on the council and Cllr Lowe one minute supports them and the next he is sending me emails telling me I understand how you feel, referring to the way I am treated. He and a few others are homophobic and not interested in any change or doing anything correctly. They only seem interested in removing me from the council.
The five day trial back in 2013 should have brought about change unfortunately the case was not widely reported and Cllr Lowe and others never accepted the Judges verdict. I do not harass Cllrs past or present Or Helen Briggs the CEO at Rutland County Council
It took months to get the main person responsible for the blog (still on-line) (described as homophobic crude and crass by the judge). Cllr Charles Haworth to resign after I protested as a member of the public and videoed him at the chamber. His disgusting conduct was supported by the Mayor at the time and other members of the council.
Since the court case Cllr Adam Lowe has also told me the Council does not like gay people this was not news to me,
In 2010 Cllr Joyce Lucas and ex Cllr Alf Dewis called me into a private meeting and told me that I was bringing the council into disrepute, because I had published on my blog, birthday celebration photographs, I was photographed in a Leicester Gay Bar and a drag queen was also shown. Cllr Lucas incorrectly described the person as transgender this really shows the old guards ignorance.
I am currently awaiting a anti corruption investigation report to be released by Leicestershire Police.
I think the current delay is being caused by Cllr Adam Lowe as he has told me he has threatened to sue Leicestershire Police.
Cllr Lowe was a special constable and always lied about the reason he resigned. He resigned after I complained about harassment with him using a computer at his place of work.
I accept the findings of the Wilkin Chapman report and try very hard not to react to continued poor conduct from some members.
Since that report was published the following has happened and I have not reacted.
Cllr Stan Stubbs was found guilty for calling me a bastard in a meeting
Cllr Michael Haley was also found guilty of not letting me speak in a meeting he was chairing .
Cllr Michael Haley wrote to me towards the end of the year and told me to do something useful
and jump under a bus. Because he was caring for another Cllr who was on the verge of a mental
break down.
Oakham Town Council chose to ignore any comment about them in the Wilkin Chapman report.
They were happy to point out punish me for my failings, it stinks. And Rutland County Council
Support what they do. It is my opinion Debby Mogg the monitoring officer and other Council staff are instructed by Helen Briggs
the CEO to treat me unfairly since she was told of by the district judge in court and I revealed she lied in court.
This is very political as most of those involved are Rutland Conservatives.
That reminds me of another of Cllr Adam Lowes lies in the Wilkin Chapman report he states I am wrong when I refer to him as a Conservative on my blog. in his statement he says he has never been a Conservative. before the start of the last meeting he said he was a Conservative and always was. I wonder if he will ever tell the truth?
Here I respond to your three points raised:
30/16 – Filming and posting of a conversation you had with Allison Greaves at the Council Offices without her consent.
Yes I did film Allison Greaves reading her email to me, she had been rude about me to the Mayor Adam Lowe in a email she sent
him, I was aware of it because he forwarded it to me. As part of Allison's apology she said everyone was to blame for such a poor council.
I felt this was in the public interest to publish what the Clerk thought of our council she was speaking the truth. I object to
the allegation that by doing this I am bullying Allison. Bullying is a pattern of actions not one incident someone object to.
The monitoring Officer tells Allison feels threatened. This is offensive. If Allison would tell the truth she is simply embarrassed that she was
caught out being rude about me and then the other members don't like her comment about their failings. Allison told me the video made her
look stupid. It is my opinion it just backed up my public criticism of the council that is not working.
Due to the conduct of a few members and the acting Clerk at the time I had made Cllrs and staff aware that I would be recording my visits to the council office for my protection.
43/16: Parts A, C and E – Disruption of Council Meeting, Publication of confidential information and Disrespect.
I have not disrupted any meetings, just speaking at a meeting is often considered a disruption.
At one meeting, I was thrown out of my chair and assaulted by the Mayor Cllr Adam Lowe and my property was damaged the police were called. He lied and other Cllrs saw nothing despite being in a small room. He then went on to continue to lie falsely accusing me in emails that I had caused him ABH and damaged his clothes.
I have told Cllr Lowe that if he does not pay for the damage of my Computer and tripod I will take him to court. It was suggested I should approach ITV's Judge Rinder to show how shockingly appalling he and the council are.
I am thinking about that one. I rarely tell people that I am a Oakham Town Councillor because it is an embarrassment that we are the council of the county town.
The first time I was wrongly accused of disrupting a meeting, was when I questioned incorrect accounts ex Cllr Alf Dewis was then Mayor and would not let me speak, because he was attempting to stop me revealing his involvement in the incorrect accounts.
Eventually the external auditors listened and found Cllr Alf Dewis had broken the law. He was Mayor at the time and repaid money and resigned Cllr Adam Lowe told the press it was just a mistake and he would be missed, even at the time Cllr Dewis resigned he could not tell the truth. He said the unlawful spending was for employment advice. When in fact it
was money spent on legal advice just before the elections and I had returned to the council. Rutland County Councillor Alan Walters told me about a meeting held away from the council in a bar led by ex Cllr Alf Dewis and supported by the local police inspector.
Cllr Alan Walters told me about a report given out at that meeting, which showed the council was going to pay a private security company
to sit outside the chamber in case I was to be removed from meetings. That is how democracy works here in Oakham.
As for publishing of confidential information. if you are referring to the Clerk Richard White.
I published in the public interest and I am protected by the Whistle Blower Act which the monitoring officer or the town council do not acknowledge this protection.
The Clerk went on long term sick after I found a number of audit issues. I was excluded from all meetings leading up to his settlement and the council still refuses to let me see the minutes. I have no confidential information to publish.
I only published what I overheard and have been told by a member of the public. When I was excluded from one meeting
I sat in the chamber and listened to Cllr Adam Lowe conduct the meeting in the clerks office. He told members that he knew
Richard White had breached his contract and broken laws and blamed the former Mayor Alf Dewis for not handling things
correctly. The law states it is in the public interest to disclose when the laws has broken. Public money should not have been
paid to cover up unlawful conduct. Even if they are not criminal, in this case local government and audit acts were constantly
ignored. I did not know the Clerk had been paid of until a member of the public told me.
Some weeks later Cllr Lowe confirmed Richard White had left the council.
The fitness Centre I have never published anything confidential. The council led by the Deputy Cllr Michael Haley
Attempted to make the matter confidential. I simply published the property was being let for less than the market value
and was not advertised and keys have been handed over to the tenants and no lease has been agreed or signed.
This is not a acceptable way of handling public property. At various meetings Cllr Haley has stated different figures in public and in private.
At one confidential meeting He has said the tenant did not wanted to be named even though they were named in a public report handed out at that
meeting and others. (The Fitness Centre Working Group Report)
The company had written to the council openly many times before Michael Haley was a Cllr so the name was not news.
I believe it is a councillors job to point out when you have paid for a valuation and the rental income you can expect after the valuation is over £12,000
and the budget shows there will only be an income £7,000 the next year. Even to date it is not clear how much the tenant is due to pay and when
something a parish Councillor should know.
As for disrespect, I can walk into the room and say hello and most of the time I am ignored by most members of the council
I have mentioned a few members disrespect towards me in other parts of my response.
52/16 – The opening of the Town Council noticeboard.
Yes I opened the town council notice board and took out a copy of the external audit report and replaced it after copying it
I had repeatedly asked for a copy of the public document and for a copy to be presented to the council and my requests were refused
which is very common. At the last meeting the council was read an extract from public FOI letter which had an impact on the outcome of an agenda item the Council and Cllr Lowe have refused to provide me with a copy of the letter or give me the public reference number so I can obtain a copy from Rutland County Council. The main reason behind this is they don't like me sharing public documents on my blog. They know less
people read reports in a notice board and that is why they are only to happy not to comply with the law and publish these documents
online or distribute them at meetings.
I explained in a email to the council why I had opened the notice board and blogged with photographs to show no damage was caused.
The Town Council has caused more damage by to the notice board by attaching to over priced cheap quality padlocks to stop me accessing the
notice board again.
I knew Cllr Lowe had reported me to Leicestershire Police accusing me of theft and burglary. Because he told me. They did not contact me.
I then received a decision notice from Debbie Mogg the monitoring officer at Rutland County Council, she has since
refused to respond to my questions. Cllr Lowe lied to her, when he said I damaged the notice board. He also lied and made a much more serious allegation by falsely claiming I was carrying a knife. Cllr Lowe is not fit to be our chairman or Mayor.
When I received the decision notice it was the first time I had seen the lies. I had not been given any opportunity to respond to the serious false
and dishonest lies and allegations made by Oakham Mayor Cllr Adam Lowe.
I wrote to both the monitoring officer to explain how my actions were disrespectful. Surely is it disrespectful for the council to
constantly refuse a Councillor copies of public documents. I asked Cllr Adam Lowe
to retract his lies, Cllr Adam Lowe our Mayor responded to me before Christmas and told me I was mental and a criminal and instructed me get to help before I cause someone serious harm. I managed not to react or suggest he might be the one with an illness. Surely his conduct is most
disrespectful not mine.
Cllr Martin Brookes
13 Willow Crescent
Oakham
Rutland
LE15 6EQ
Tel: 07508060962
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 at 8:22 PM
From: "Guy Goodman"
To: "martinbrookes@politician.com"
Subject: Confidential: Oakham Town Council - Complaints
Cllr Brookes
I refer to the letter of 16 December 2016 you have received from Debbie Mogg, the Monitoring Officer at Rutland County Council, concerning 3 complaints against you as a Member of Oakham Town Council. In that letter you received the Decision Notices for each complaint and you were also advised of my appointment as the Independent Investigator.
I am in the process of considering the case papers that I have received and familiarising myself with the background to these matters. For the avoidance of doubt I am investigating the following matters:
1. 30/16 – Filming and posting of a conversation you had with Allison Greaves at the Council Offices without her consent.
2. 43/16: Parts A, C and E – Disruption of Council Meeting, Publication of confidential information and Disrespect.
3. 52/16 – The opening of the Town Council noticeboard.
My focus at the moment is to concentrate on establishing the facts. It would be extremely helpful if at this stage you could respond to the 3 complaints in 2 parts:
1. Indicate whether the events alleged actually took place.
2. If they did, then your explanation for your actions.
I would be grateful if I could receive your observations by Friday 27 January 2017.
If you need more time or need to raise any other issues with me please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you
Guy Goodman
Independent Investigator
