Chair and vchair bullying councillors to agree what they want. Can clerk step in to tell them to stop?

Question

We require another clerk (fourth in 4 years) The chair and vice chair don't want certain people on the panel after they were chosen to interview the people for a new clerk and have been emailing and bullying them into holding off. Subsequently one councillor has resigned from the panel. The two others feel intimidated but the chairman with the vice chair (his pal/puppet) continue to bully and harass .

The situation is very bad and it is nasty

Can the clerk intervene at all to tell them to stop?

Answer 1

I wouldn't really expect the clerk to intervene in relations between councillors, although they can be supportive in giving advice on the legal and practical position. There is no way to get rid of a bad chairman except at the annual meeting, and then it requires a majority of councillors to support an alternative candidate.

The only simple answer is to resist bullying. Council members (including chair and vice chair) have no rights over other councillors, and all council decisions must be made in council meetings by a vote. Thus, every member is entitled to stick to their guns and cast their votes as they see fit. Whether debate is discussed in a fair and reasonable manner is another matter, as it is difficult to cope with a bad chairman.

Comments

Thank you counterpoint. We really now have a serious case of 'mental' bullying by the chair and it just tires everyone out which his constant mental abuse. It is  hard time for us

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I'm sorry to hear it. In a situation like that, I would certainly recommend sympathetic councillors (and perhaps supporters) to work together to combat the problem. There is nothing to stop a number of councillors becoming an informal group and holding meetings or exchanging emails among themselves. Sharing the problems and looking for ways to combat them as a group can be a big help.