19 April (Part 3) - The rudest man in Bexley. Prime material for the next joke Mayor?
Six
months ago I floated the idea that Alan Downing might be
the rudest Bexley
councillor for his behaviour in the Civic Offices at the time, then a few weeks
ago he amply
confirmed the suggestion was firmly on track. As Crime and Disorder Committee Chairman
he told a deaf man that his deafness was his problem and councillor Peter Craske
didn’t have to turn his microphone on (so that the loop system could pick it
up). This was skating on very thin ice as far as the law is concerned, and
councillor Craske, to his credit, instantly recognised that and flicked his
microphone switch. Downing went into lecturing pen jabbing mode instead.
A complaint went in against the council and their reply is now available. Clearly,
Mr. Nick Hollier, Deputy Director Human Resources & Corporate Support knows
when the council is in the wrong and he sent out a letter of apology which includes
the following text and which the recipient is more that happy to accept is the end of
the matter - at least so far as the council as a legal entity is concerned.
It
will be interesting to see how Bexley’s Standards Committee will deal with councillor
Downing. They have recently been gloating that there is no realistic appeal procedure
against its decisions now that the Standards Board for England has gone. But if Bexley
council wants to ruin its reputation still further, it knows what to do.