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Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - Editor (5th Nov 2012 - 09:43:23) Councillors are elected in May to serve for a period of 4 years. If seats becomes vacant within that time, there can be a by-election (if more than 10 people request it), or, if not, then to save money the council can decide to co-opt members. We are in now in the position that very few requests were made and not enough for us to hold a by-election compulsorily. In light of this, all interested persons should let the Parish Office know of their interest. Please be aware that by registering your interest you are committing yourself to serve for FOUR YEARS. Councillors have three main components to their work. Decision making -Through meetings and attending committees with other elected members, councillors decide which activities to support, where money should be spent, what services should be delivered and what policies should be implemented. Monitoring -Councillors make sure that their decisions lead to efficient and effective services by keeping an eye on how well things are working. Getting involved locally -As local representatives, councillors have responsibilities towards their constituents and local organisations. To be a councillor you have to be: a British, Commonwealth or EU subject, and on the day you are nominated be 18 years of age or over; and on the day you are nominated be an elector [voter] for the parish; or during the 12 months prior - lived in or within 3 miles of the parish; or during the 12 months prior – worked in the parish. You cannot be a councillor if you are subject of a bankruptcy restriction order or interim order, been convicted and imprisoned (whether suspended or not) for a period of over three months without the option of a fine.

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - bdavies (5th Nov 2012 - 16:14:49) Interesting to note what qualifies a potential candidate. Call me old fashioned but the vast majority of us manage to struggle through life without the threat of a 3 month prison sentence. Given all the press recently about certain misdoings and so forth in the Liphook PC surely any inclination toward committing any prisonable offences should exclude someone from potential election to important public service.

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - Dawn Hoskins (6th Nov 2012 - 11:30:26) In general you should set aside a number of hours per week, per committee. That is in addition to the hours you will spend at council meetings and training sessions. Please remember that you are putting yourself forward for the remainder of this 4 year period. That is a long time. …… Think ……… Are you fit and well enough to see the 4 years out? Can you put up with votes not going ‘your way’? Can you work in a professional manner even when you may not agree with a person’s point of view? Please consider that every bye- election costs us thousands of pounds - so standing for Parish Councillor is not a matter to consider lightly. It takes work and commitment and also patience to deal with the slow turning wheel of democracy and bureaucracy. However, we are not dealing with multi-million pound deals here – this is about cutting hedges; replacing hand rails; putting in new steps; trying to get new bus-shelters sited; trying to get popular shows to run at the Hall etc. It is small but interesting for those with an interest in the local community. Please don’t believe what you have read in the local ‘rag’. Our ‘’rag’ has taken continual and longstanding pleasure in portraying this council as either a collective of blithering idiots or a bunch of mortal enemies at each others throats…bla..bla..bla.. It is not true, just ask the people who normally attend – they will tell you the truth. Information on the Co-option. I takes place in open Council so all can attend. A list is read out of persons

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - Finchie (7th Nov 2012 - 00:28:00) You serve less than four years for !!! Joking aside, question on the process. My simple brain can't put together "elections are every May" and "councillors serve four years", as if elections are every May councillors might only serve a year. Or is there a subtlety e.g. There are only vacancies made after a councillor has completed 4 years (or resigns). Last question about co-opted councillors. Are they co-opted for 4 years, or just until the May elections ? For me this is a very important point, because we if we delegate our responsibility to existing councillors to co-opt we lose our chance to vote / influence, so no complaints in the future anyone !!! Cheers, Finchie

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - Councillor Barbara Easton (7th Nov 2012 - 15:15:06) Councillors are elected by the public once every four years which is the expected term of office. This is usually in May to tie in with other possible elections. The last election for the whole council was May 2011. Therefore anyone co-opted now is expected to serve until May 2015, if they do not there is either co-option or election. There is also a yearly internal process again in May where Bramshott and Liphook PC vote on whether they wish members to stay on committees, vote for a Chair, stay as chair of committees etc.

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - Finchie (7th Nov 2012 - 18:22:44) Thanks Barbera, very clear. My joke was lost as I typed You serve less than 4 years for ~insert appropriate crime here~ Either, I used 'greater than' and 'less than' signs which in the web world means the comment got lost Or the Editor thought I wanted him to insert something and he couldn't thing of anything ! Jokes are rubbish when you have to explain them !!! I'll stop there. Cheers, Finchie Sorry Finchie, I hadn't spotted your use of the greater than sign, which as you correctly point out is used by html as the start of a tag.

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - jean (8th Nov 2012 - 20:13:53) Dawn, You really cannot let it go, can you? At every opportunity you have to belittle the 4 councillors resigned recently albeit obliquely. Your questions in this posting preparing people who might want to become a councillor "Can you put up with votes not going your way?" and " Can you work in a professional manner even when you may not agree with a person's point of view?" demonstrates this. If anyone is any doubt that you are referring to the 4 councillors who resigned recently I quote a section of another of your postings under Parish Council Resignations: "It is very sad that as fellow councillors we had to read the shocking news of the departure of four of our colleagues in the local paper. I do not believe that this was a necessary or grown-up course of action and it will result in a huge expense should an election be required. It is all the more sad when the last elections, which cost vast amounts of money, were also staged due to resignations of Councillor Austin-Olsen and Sangita Judge. When you are working in a collegiate environment you cannot expect to be ‘best buddies’ with everyone, but that should not eradicate professional business relationships. Also, when 99% of Councillors vote in a way that you would not have chosen – you must face the fact that this is democracy at work and not some personal vendetta which will cause you to throw your toys out of the pram. I am very disappointed that elected members of this Parish Council have chosen to behave in this manner." How patronising and insulting and not true. Those councillors did not resign because they did not agree with a vote, they did not throw their toys out of the pram. They were villified and insulted. In the end they resigned because they considered the way the parish council was being run and the eventual dismissal of the clerk was achieved was unethtical to say the least. They resigned because of the things that were being said and done by certain councillors and were not prepared to tolerate it. It was their way of standing up and being heard - and remember Bramshott and Liphook still have to work with Cllr Mouland as a district councillor so let us hope he is not treated the way Cllr Onslow in Greatham has been and is still being treated by a certain councillor on that PC. The result in her case is, that she never goes to a PC meeting.

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - JWM (8th Nov 2012 - 21:25:19) It is possible to have the Parish Council disbanded.

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - dawn (10th Nov 2012 - 11:55:30) Dear Jean, Unlike you [who know who you are talking to] I do not know who you are and, to my knowledge, I have never met you. That makes it hard as I am clearly speaking to a person who has access to inside information as you seem to know the minds of numerous councillors. However, I will do my best to reply. I hope that you will do me the courtesy of coming to meet me at the next meeting so I can put a face to the name. I wrote, what I thought, was an overview of what is required to be a councillor, if you think in your mind that it belittles those councillors that have chosen to leave the Parish Council then that is up to you, but it was in your mind – and not in mine. I did not think that at the time and I do not think that now. In every meeting one has to deal with votes not going the way you would choose and in those instances you must continue to behave in a professional manner. There is no slight or belittlement written into this statement whatsoever. This Parish Council has, to my knowledge, never vilified or insulted anyone and due process has been followed in the extreme regarding all aspects of the recent events. If they had not been followed, any councillor could have reported our actions to the Standards Committee; and action would have been swift if illegal or unethical actions had been taken. That is the way councillors stand up to be counted Jean. There was however, no evidence of the above, so that could not happen. Not liking a fact may make you uncomfortable – but it does not make the fact untrue Jean. Regarding the four councillors who left - you may have inside information Jean, but I had to read the news in the local rag, as they chose to give the story to the press before they communicated with their fellow councillors. I stand by my statement that I made at the time. I do not know Cllr Onslow. Decisions made in neighbouring councils do not have relevance to decisions being made here. The Parish Council and the public who attend, are very pleased to receive regular reports in person from Ferris Cowper, Angela Glass and Bill Mouland. It is fantastic that the public can have a chance to ask questions directly and we all appreciate their efforts and their attendance. Long may it continue. Please remember that these are my own opinions and I do not speak on behalf of the Parish Council.

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - Kev (10th Nov 2012 - 16:48:43) I notice that there is another Kevin placing postings on Liphook Talkback so I will go under the name of Kev to differentiate. JWM, Yes it is my understanding that a parish council can be disbanded.If you go on to the internet there are various links including two referring to Great Coates Parish Council and St Agnes Parish Council, two councils involved in the "disbanding" process and the reasons why. In the case of St Agnes Council in Cornwall and I quote: "Six elected members have quit a parish council in protest after it was revealed complaints made by 3 fellow councillors had cost taxpayers £30,000. Calls were made for St Agnes PC in Cornwall to disband itself after the cost of investigating internal complaints emerged following a parishioner's Freedom of Infomation Act request. Since 2009 Cornwall Council have spent £29,290 dealing with internal complaints, most of them made by just three councillors, dubbed the Three Musketeers." Sounds familiar. Attaboy Jaybee and let's see what comes out of the woodwork when the application under The Freedom of Information Act is submitted.

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - Mrs K (10th Nov 2012 - 18:24:33) Yes, let's disband the Parish Council and volunteer to run the Parish ourselves. I think not!!!

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - Jean (11th Nov 2012 - 20:02:56) I am replying to the question of the possibility of disbanding the parish council under two Threads as Mrs K asked the question under "Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor" albeit with tongue in cheek, and H has replied under "Dismissal of the Parish Clerk." I think H took the Mrs K's posting seriously and it appeared to me that she was being sarcastic ending the posting with "I think not". However, such a procedure as disbanding a parish council should not be taken lightly and I would advise caution. Let us see what happens when Jaybee files an application under The Freedom of Information Act, then if still the very simple questions such as "did the clerk receive the verbal and mandatory written warnings and reasons for his dismissal" are not answered, the next step to obtaining clarity and transparency can be taken.

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - john (11th Nov 2012 - 23:53:04) There are some types of behavior in the work place that warrant instant dismissal.

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - Kev (12th Nov 2012 - 14:24:16) What would be the reasons for instant dismissal?

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - H (13th Nov 2012 - 10:52:57) Jean I think you are confusing the postings I have not replied anywhere I think not? It is obvious that being a councillor - if you do undertake to do the work on behalf of the parish of Liphook can be very time consuming, not many people have the time.

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - nick (13th Nov 2012 - 14:33:28) Having read all the comments regarding the Parish Clerk brings to mind a small Parish Council in Devon becoming a non Parish Council and instead became a Parish Meeting held 3 times a year. The reasons were interference by ex parish clerk and constant letters to the new parish clerk. After a year of this the chairman and the clerk resigned little knowing that the remainder of the council would followed suit. The District Council were unable to ascertain the full reasons of the full council resigning but were put in a position to call a referendum on whether the parish wanted a council or not this took 2 years and the result last year resulted in the council being disbanded and a parish meeting set up instead. I can't see that happening here as the council as Assets etc. As so many councillors have resigned here in the last few years may I suggest that they cannot stand again for a minimum of 5 years. If they felt strongly about the path the council was heading they should have stayed put and fought their corner not only for themselves but also for those who voted for them at the last election.

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - Kev (13th Nov 2012 - 17:47:04) Nick having read your posting I can only asume that you have little or no understanding of what has really been happening. The ex clerk has not been harrassing the chaiman or the locum clerk. He is the one who has been harried and hounded out of office, we know not why. The council in Cornwall mentioned in one of the other postings was being disbanded because 3 of the councillors nicknamed The Three Muskateers ran up enormous expenses by lodging complaints about other councillors. In other words spending taxpayers money on their own agendas. As for banning councillors who have resigned, from standing for 5 years, pleeeeeeze, we are a democratic country, not a nanny state, and the voters should be allowed to make up their own minds as to who they vote for. If a councillor stands again after resigning, let there be a democratic consensus not a bureaucratic decision as to whether he or she is elected. With regard to H's posting I would like to point out that Jean did not say that H had placed a posting ending in "I think not." Jean clearly stated that Mrs K placed the posting, H answered it and obviously did not understand that it was a sarcastic posting. I suggest H reads the postings carefully again.

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - H (14th Nov 2012 - 11:17:37) I think perhaps to avoid confusion in future some better grammar could have been utilised.

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - nick (14th Nov 2012 - 18:31:41) Kev please read again what i put down I have not implied anything about whst is /has been going on here. I indicated what happened in another Parish not here.. In regards your other comment i do know what is going on and how a parish tries to deal with day to day occurances, i feel somethings should not be made until the matter has been resolved and all will be informed in due course when the time is right etc

Re: Interested in becoming a Parish Councillor? - Dawn Hoskins (15th Nov 2012 - 18:15:30) Harried and hounded out of office?! I am sure the investigator and the disciplary officer would not describe their work as such.

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