9 July - Another clueless Bexley manager with a God complex
Bexley’s record of attracting poor and occasionally dishonest management has
always been unsurpassed. Has another London borough ever had a Chief Executive
referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for lying?
There is a huge back catalogue of managerial incompetence recorded on Bonkers
from deciding, against staff advice, to employ a known drunk on the
one-man overnight emergency line (a lady died) and a
suspected paedophile with access to a nursery. He was jailed.
The Director of Social Care who left after OFSTED rated Bexley inadequate was
soon
kicked out of his next job too and via St. Helena, New Zealand and
California was eventually forced to find
his natural level as a bar singer.
If you listened to the Finance and Corporate Services Scrutiny meeting in March
you will have heard managers bravely admitting to their inadequacies. They were
proposing to “teach managers what the word meant and equip them with the soft
skills needed and how to behave in the workplace and deal with difficult
situations”. (Why were they recruited as managers in the first place?)
Last month the new team on Social Services said
they were going to
start listening to staff, meeting them and talking but the culture shift will take time.
(I suppose given the dross they have it is bound to but you have to start somewhere,)
A new name that has not yet been taught “how to deal with difficult situations”
is Fiona Clark, Head of Specialist Advice Services. A clueless wonder if ever there was one.
She has after a five week delay answered my Kelly
Wilkinson complaint. Hardly a difficult one. Ms. Wilkinson had blocked my
road with her car but no house caught fire and no neighbour suffered a cardiac
arrest so I went in quite gently. The real issue was Madam Wilkinson’s sense of
entitlement. It was all too typical of a petty bureaucrat and her silence needed
to be challenged. She was more important than anyone else and there was no need
to offer any explanation or apology for what she had done.
My road is frequently rendered impassable by large vehicles because of
inconsiderate commuter parking and the failure of Bexley Council to paint
yellow lines in the right places, however on Tuesday this week it was
blocked even to the smallest of cars.
Knocking on doors failed to find the culprit and it was impossible to
squeeze through the small gap. Fortunately I was nearby when the driver
returned, she was wearing a Bexley Council badge and I was able to read the name.
Instead of offering an apology your employee said nothing at all and drove
off. This is a formal complaint against Kelly Wilkinson who has besmirched
Bexley Council’s reputation before me and two neighbours by not only
blocking the road which is a criminal offence but failing to offer any
apology or possible explanation for her criminal activities.
I would also suggest that in case of emergency a pre-prepared card with
contact details should be left on display so that residents, ambulance and fire engine drivers might be able to pass.
Photographs are attached.
Four weeks later I enquired about the long delay and Lorraine who has the unenviable task of dealing with the likes of Fiona Clark apologised.
She referenced the lack of yellow lines, hence my opening remarks.
As I am sure you will recognise, my complaint was not about illegal
parking. Adjacent roads have been badly affected in that regard and
residents know that the Council is not able to take action against
obstruction and it refuses to agree to the installation of yellow lines
which might act as a deterrent. The police have taken action in
circumstances identical to that created by Ms. Wilkinson because what she did
is a criminal offence. They both tow and issue penalty notices.
My complaint is basically one of arrogance and bringing Bexley Council into
disrepute which apparently is to be belatedly looked into.
Thank you for keeping me informed.
As stated, blocking the King’s highway is contrary to Section 137 of the Highways Act and punishable by up to 51 weeks in prison.
One might think that the easiest way to answer my complaint was a simple “sorry, we will try to ensure that it doesn’t happen again”, but no, that
might imply that Bexley Council had done something wrong. Contrary to Rule 1 of every Public Service Handbook.
Despite the obvious contravention of Section 137 Fiona Clark has denied that any law
was broken and cites Bexley’s own Parking Services Department as supporting her
in that view. This is a little strange because in relation to the very same road
Bexley’s Highways Department admitted that the police have removed cars parked in the manner
of Ms. Wilkinson’s. Fiona Clark has clearly not got the brainpower to
distinguish between local parking regulations and the law of the land. And we
pay the salaries of these dimwits.
Police have been involved.
Then she goes for what she might believe
to be her killer point. She says that Ms. Wilkinson remained mute because she felt
intimidated by me briefly holding the car door ajar while I read the name badge, for a second at most.
The
facts are rather different. Ms. Wilkinson emerged from a house sixty or seventy
yards from her car and walked towards me and a female neighbour (another
withdrew as she approached) while clearly
able to see the problem she had created. Any normal person would have broken into
a trot muttering sorry or similar and instantly defused the situation. As I
said, Ms. Wilkinson has an inviolable sense of entitlement.
Fiona Clark has been easily taken in by a fairy story. If she had stopped to
think for even a minute she might have wondered how it was the final second of
possible intimidation had retrospectively affected the previous 30 seconds of the incident.
The road blockage was clearly criminal and had there been any suspicion that it
was long term commuter parking the police would have been called as they have
been before (and supported by Bexley Council).
There is not a word of apology
from Fiona Clark for the inconvenience and potential danger into
which residents were placed “and we deem Kelly Wilkinson’s behaviour to be appropriate”.
Only within Bexley Council is criminal behaviour condoned.
Now I have to make a Stage 2 complaint to correct Fiona Clark’s misconception on
road traffic law and to ask for an explanation of how Kelly came to feel
intimidated and struck dumb by an elderly couple in the 30 seconds before
either I or my neighbour said a word.
Yes I did indicate I was going to make her famous (not a quote) but only when she was
safely in her car and speeding off.
Employing idiots such as Fiona Clark to respond to (not very) “difficult situations” is a major
factor in keeping our taxes sky high.