Who are
my affiliates?
That is of no effing
concern of anyone at Selby District Council or Hemingbrough Parish Council whom
we pay to ensure free, fair and untainted elections.
Yorkshire is not some African dictatorship,
although some parish councillors may act like tin-pot dictators marching up and
down village roads in search of a missing Bren light machine gun!
Why did a
Selby District Council employee confer informally with the Hemingbrough Parish
Clerk naming 10 Hemingbrough residents who democratically and lawfully petitioned
the District Council directly for a by-election, confirming my name was not on
the list, asking if the Petitioners
were affiliated with me, and offering the Clerk his thanks?
The Hemingbrough
Parish Clerk, Mrs. Julie Leighton-Eshelby conferred with the employee informally
as follows “Not again!! Has this petition come from Mr Markham again
by any chance?” (NO, IT DID NOT, AND IF IT DID, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NO BUSINESS OF YOURS OR YOUR FRIEND AT SELBY DISTRICT COUNCIL!)
Leighton-Eshelby
singled me out from 10 Petitioners for the June 2017 by-election. She went beyond her official duties of
implementing agreed Council decisions. She circulated
the names of Petitioners to Councillors by informal emails that may have been viewed
by relatives and friends and may have fuelled the village gossip grapevine. According to that village grapevine, the
ruling Clique does not want anyone else from the Hagg Lane Green Group on the
Council.
This is what can happen for asking awkward questions or recording Council meetings. It reminds me of the former professional Clerk saying Councillors were not smart enough to remember what lies they had already told, and the current Chairman publicly admitting he had lied, but not blatantly, when chairing a Council session.
I am
assured Leighton-Eshelby did not circulate Petitioners’ names to all Councillors in
the June 2017 by-election.
By their actions, Leighton-Eshelby and her Selby Council friend could have damaged the integrity of the election announced on 4th
September 2017.
For the
record, I do not know Terence Cook, Peter Parish, Linda Moore, James Moore, Charles
Rhodes, or Patricia Rhodes, all residents of Hemingbrough. It is possible I may have said ‘Good Morning’
or some other pleasantry to any of them when walking through the village.
I know
of Keith Terry if he is the Parish Councillor I have filmed at Council meetings
and have written to without reply when asking Councillors to stop Chairman
Strelczenie bullying Councillor Chilvers in a ‘nasty’ way. I have exchanged two short pleasantries with
him before Council meetings.
I spoke once
to a Mr. Harrison, Market Gardener of Newhay, when we shared critical comments
about the village Welcome Sign erected opposite his house some year ago. I think he may be Peter Harrison, so I do not
know a John Harrison of Hemingbrough.
I know
Roland Chilvers primarily as a Parish Councillor.
I believe his relatives own or manage the village convenience store. I
have filmed him being bullied in Parish Council meetings, while the Parish
Clerk, the Council Vice-chairman (now resigned) and other Councillors did
nothing to defend him despite the Council’s Standing Orders and the Councillors
Code of Conduct. I have ‘known’ Chilvers
for some years, as we crossed swords to his disadvantage some years ago on
Parish Council and Local Charity matters.
In recent years, Chilvers and I discovered we had mutual interests:
Railway Locomotives, Photography, Family and Local History, and the National
Health Service. We consigned our earlier
battles to history.
I may
recognise Marian Frank as a member of the St. Mary’s Church congregation. I filled the post of Parochial Church Council
Secretary at the request of the Vicar when he knew the Church was approaching
an Interregnum and he needed my particular communication skills. Ms. Frank was not a part of the Church
Council. I cannot recall any conversation
with her.
I do not
want the Petitioners tainted as affiliates of mine, when in fact they are not, or
face retaliation from some elements of the Parish Council.
I have not yet identified the Selby
District Council employee before a Complaint Procedure happens. The Hemingbrough Parish Clerk’s name is
available to anyone accessing the Council’s website. Councillors, Council Employees and the public
may be recorded by the public at open Council meetings.
(To be continued … )
