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WHAT THE THANET DISTRICT COUNCIL CHAIRMAN DIDN’T WANT PEOPLE TO HEAR.
Please find below two speeches, which were cut short by the Conservative Chairman at last night’s AGM of Thanet District Council during a debate on the nominees for Leader of the Council for the coming year.
The words in blue denote what was said before each councillor was cut off by the Chairman and forced to sit down.
The remainder of words in black were those that the Conservative Chairman managed to prevent being said at the meeting.
As democratically elected members Cllrs. Watkins & Hart are making formal complaints about the stifling of debate.
FROM Cllr. JOHN WATKINS
Chairman
I will be voting against the motion to elect Cllr. Ezekiel as TDC leader for the coming year, because I fail to understand how any member here can give their support to a Council leader who has been found to bring his office and authority into disrepute, bringing shame to the Thanet district. Paragraph 1.3 of the Standards Board for England investigation report
number 18388.07 states that Cllr. Ezekiel failed to comply with paragraphs 2 (B) and 4 of the Code of Conduct.
No amount of sophistry, mud slinging, smoke screen, or rhetoric will alter the facts, Cllr. Ezekiel has brought the office of TDC Leader into disrepute with behaviour that for a man in his position as a senior elected representative is unforgivable. Giving regard to the problems with anti social behaviour nationally, to which significant extra police resources have to be allocated. This was an appalling example to set the youth of Thanet.
As councillors we are required to report all breaches of the code that we witness. Last year I reported this flagrant breach only to find that this resulted in a Tit for Tat report clearly designed to smear other people who were present at the time, coupled with accusations to Kent Police for good measure. The end result was that it was treated as a spat between politicians with no sanctions at all imposed on the member in clear breach of the code.
My strong feeling now is that it will be a complete waste of everyone’s time and resources if the end result is that no action needs to be taken following a finding of breaches of paragraphs 2 and 4 of the code.
During the coming months, training sessions will be held, to give all TDC members an understanding of the requirements of the code of conduct and the implications of the Standards regime to political life in Thanet. My experience of how this operates within our council can then be fully detailed and debated with the Thanet Parish councillors, Parish clerks and the Independent members of the Standards Committee.
I will be voting against the motion to elect Cllr. Ezekiel as Leader of the TDC for the coming year, because I think that the Thanet District Council should find a better leader.
AND FROM Cllr. CLIVE HART
Chairman
I will try not to speak about the incident at the Mayor’s Retiring Ball – I think that by now everyone in this chamber knows just how disgusted I feel about Cllr. Ezekiel’s appalling behaviour in relation to that!
I wish to explain further reasons why Cllr. Ezekiel should not be elected for another year as leader of Thanet District Council.
Unfortunately, long before the Winter Gardens incident Cllr. Ezekiel had already displayed clear signs of volatile and aggressive behaviour.
In July 2004, when we were experiencing serious anti-social behaviour problems in Cliftonville West (that initially he said we ward councillors were exaggerating – wrong again) I witnessed Cllr. Ezekiel behaving in an extremely volatile manner.
With complete disregard for the wishes of the residents present, Cllr. Ezekiel slammed the door of his office in my face and refused me entry to a meeting where the residents concerned had asked me to attend with them and on their behalf.
Indeed, on 30th July in a newspaper article entitled ‘Anger at ‘rude’ leader’s private vandalism talks’ a resident of troubled Surrey Road said that Cllr. Ezekiel behaved like the thugs he was trying to get rid of. They went on to say ‘Sandy Ezekiel was so rude and aggressive. It was awful’.
That report, way back in 2004, went on to explain that the resident thought Cllr. Ezekiel’s behaviour was particularly inappropriate for someone of his senior status. That’s the important thing Chairman – Cllr. Ezekiel’s poor behaviour in relation to his senior status.
Now let’s move on and past the awful scene Cllr. Ezekiel made at the Mayor’s Retiring Ball. Let’s wind things forward.
On the day after the ball, did Cllr. Ezekiel phone my wife and I to apologise for his aggressive outburst and appalling language? No he did not.
In a futile attempt to cover his own appalling behaviour he deviously set about creating a series of spurious and malicious allegations against me, which the Police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Standards Board subsequently threw out!
Cllr. Ezekiel wasted hours and hours and hours of senior public servants time across three expensive organisations in a pathetic and failed attempt to cover his own shortcomings.
Never mind his outrageous behaviour during the civic event at the Winter Gardens. I have explained that Cllr. Ezekiel appears to be a volatile individual with huge disregard for the basic courtesies of ordinary life and who also appears to feel no guilt whatsoever for any cost he causes the public purse as long as he covers his own back.
Just for good measure, in a recent unbridled rant in a local newspaper Cllr. Ezekiel also made clear his flippant and dismissive attitude towards human rights, health and safety and public consultation.
Cllr. Ezekiel is certainly not the kind of person who should be allowed to lead our district!
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