parich councillor resignation. What do you put in the letter

Question

I have been on the parish council for just 3 months (I was on some years ago and was also chairman) but it appears the chair and vice chair have a clique. They are disrespectful, overbearing, they have lied, shouted at an 86 year old councillor and they are un-democratic in their dealings of the parish. On coming onto the council I found, especially the female members, were frightened to say anything and the others were not much better.

They have called the previous parish council members over the years as not doing the job properly, saying that existing members are not doing it correctly as well. They are patronising , rude, aggressive, bullying to say the least. They have upset councillors & residents alike with their attitude. Their people skills are non-existant

I need to come off but don't know what to say; do I make an excuse and explain about why? Please help

Answer 1

Well, you don't have to put anything other than to say that you are resigning.

If you want to say more, then you need to decide on your strategy.  Do you intend to make your resignation letter public?  Send a copy to the local press?  In which case you will need to think how it will play with local people and what influence it might have.  What might be the response from the people you want to criticise?  And are you ready to cope with it and continue the debate?

There's also an argument for sticking it out, especially given the timing.  The chairman must be re-elected every year at the council's annual meeting in May.  But before that, the entire council is up for election in May 2015 so there is the possibility of recruiting new candidates.  Quitting the council and then standing for election may not be well received by the voters - they may be more impressed if you've been fighting for your principles.

When the election for chairman and vice chairman comes up in the new parish council next May, you need to be ready with alternative candidates and make sure that they are proposed.  There is no need for a lengthy discussion, the critical thing is to have enough support to win the votes.

One way to ease your situation might be to concentrate on building up support for next May's election, not necessarily attending every council meeting.  So long as you are not absent for six months, you cannot be removed from the council.

I appreciate that you may feel that this is something you're not willing to tackle.  But the only way the situation will be resolved is for people to stand up and take steps to achieve a parish council that is more representative of the parish.