Problem parishioner

Question

I have probably a unique situation where one of the residents is a clerk to another parish. They are very defence and unreasonable at council meetings. Rude, and this is regular. They use their knowledge to scrutinise the clerk in a way that is unnecessary. We had a previous clerk for a number of weeks, they phoned them up and said there were people watching her, she had no right to be in the role, no cilca. The clerk left immediately. How would your council deal with this individual and protect current staff members? Council members find this individual abhorrent. The individual also corresponds with the chair and asks for emails not to be sent into the office. Thanks

Answer 1

How disappointing that a clerk takes it upon herself/himself to undermine others in the profession.
I'd start with a letter/email to the resident, pointing out the duty of the council to protect your clerk from bullying and harassment and setting out what you expect from members of the public at meetings. They'll be something in your policies to quote. I'd also have a council statement prepared for any future meetings, should the behaviour continue at meetings.
Advice from the SLCC or your local association of local councils may be a good starting point. There must be some Code of Conduct tucked away in one of the organisations which will be of use and which could act as a reminder to the resident that their conduct falls short of what is expected of a clerk (regardless of the fact they are outside the workplace when attending your meetings, they are using their position as a clerk to bully and undermine). I bet her/his council would be appalled if they knew what was going on.

Comments

… picking up on Tinglemint’s last sentence.  Half of me says “why not tell them”.

Answer 2

Somewhere there should be a procedure for handling vexatious parishioners, you could also ask the MO at your principal authority. It is possible to give them a SPOC - single point of contact - in their dealings with the council. Take them off your social media but expect criticism for it. If they are determined it may be a long-term problem. Do you know what their motivation is?

Answer 3

There's always the seemingly incomprehensible option of actually listening to what it is that is being presented / perceived as 'unreasonable' and attempting to look at the situation from the other end of the telescope.

Embrace the critical input, examine it and consider if it has any merit.
I genuinely despair at the seemingly common-place inability of human nature to see things from the other perspective.

It really can result in the quickest, most pain-free and - dare I suggest - mutually rewarding outcomes...

Comments

I can't imagine any constructive outcomes for a clerk to tell another clerk they've no right to the role & there are people watching her?

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I’d venture to suggest that there could be / have been immediate, significant, measurable and constructive outcomes if the corporate PC had immediately and properly addressed the issue when it first presented.
A simple notification to the complainer that they have no business (nor is it welcome) that they express a (meaningless) opinion about the the suitability or right of the former short term incumbent to be in the role - the positive outcome there could have been that that individual wouldn’t have moved on. As to the “people are watching you” comment, well, people are always watching so that is pretty much par for the course.
The “potential” positive outcome is listen to the disgruntled contributor, determine IF they have any valid points and then respond to them setting out the corporate consideration.
Embrace - consider - respond will (99.99% of the time) be better than….

Oppose - defend - continue…