Brighton and Hove councillor criticised over "nutter" letter (From The Argus)
Get involved: Send your news, views, pictures and video by texting SUPIC to 80360 or email us.
Brighton and Hove councillor criticised over "nutter" letter
1:55pm Monday 8th February 2010 in
A senior councillor will be told to change his writing style after a resident complained that a letter the politician sent to The Argus portrayed him as a "nutter".
David Smith, Brighton and Hove City Council's cabinet member for culture, will receive the instructions in the next few days although he has escaped any official punishment after being cleared of any breaches of the local authority’s code of conduct.
The complaint came from library campaigner Christopher Hawtree, of Westbourne Gardens, Hove, who claimed Coun Smith was unprofessional in mocking him in the letter published last September.
It was written in response to Mr Hawtree publicly questioning Coun Smith about why more than 200 electrical sockets had been installed in the floor of the main room of the Jubilee Library.
The letter said: "How many more letters are we going to read from Christopher Hawtree about his odd fixation with the Jubilee Library and its shelves?
"I am not a psychologist but I suspect it is always going to be hard to please a man with the time and inclination to count all the plug sockets in a large public building, as he did last March."
In his complaint Mr Hawtree said he had been trying to make a serious point.
The complaint was part of an increasingly pointed series of exchanges between Coun Smith and Mr Hawtree, who had posed dozens of questions to the politician at council meetings and in letters, mostly calling for improvements to libraries.
On one occasion his questioning prompted the councillor to say that in a different era he would have challenged him to a duel.
Coun Smith told The Argus he had intended no offence by the letter.
Comments(15)
yorkie44
says...
2:11pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Christophe Hawtree
says...
3:48pm Mon 8 Feb 10
How much credence can be given to the Tories' Ed Vaizey, with his recent pronouncement on libraries nationally, if the Tories behave like this when they have some sort of control of a place and therefore its libraries?
Councillor Smith was, most ineptly, trying to portray me as a lunatic, and, even if I were, that is shoddy behaviour by somebody in his position, as Roy Pennington stressed.
I shall certainly reward the Mighty Horse with some sugar lumps after he has arrived in the Town Hall with such a neighing that almost all of the Conservatives wake up to witness the spectacle of Councillor Smith being ferried away from this post.
Just think how many sugar lumps could be bought for the extra eleven thousand pounds which he gets for the "Culture" post, doubling his pay. Quite a sweetener, as the Horse might say.
Who knows, the Horse might even offer to transport, if not assemble, the shelving which everybody complains is so lacking in the Jubilee Library.
What is astonishing is that the Tories tried to hitch a ride on the Carnegie Library campaign, and then behave in this oafish way, dismissing seriously made points with that desire for a duel, rather than engaging with the issues involved.
The Tories would have done better to have put Averil Older or Garry PeltzerDunn in charge of Culture.
chroma
says...
5:17pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Christopher if you don't like inferences been made by those who reply to your complaints, then either stop writing letters, or learn to live with the replies.
When councils start telling councillors to change their style of letter writing, when they've been cleared of any wrongdoing, then it's a sad day for free speach.
Personally, I think you should feel flattered he took the time to reply at all. I wonder how much time and effort, paid for by the tax payer, goes into composing replies to keep you and your ego happy?
wanttosay
says...
5:53pm Mon 8 Feb 10
It is not unreasonable to expect a civil reply from a councillor; that is their job, as described in 'A Councillor's Guide' ISBN 0 7488 9250 8. Should any particular councillor in Hove failed to have read it thoroughly, he or she should not be serving.
chroma
says...
6:17pm Mon 8 Feb 10
wanttosay wrote:You highlight my point exactly. You want councillors to write letters as per your ISBN 07488 9250 8 - guide. Which is my view is wrong. We should have councillors who are willing and able to stand up and write their own letters at the risk of upsetting the public.
Chroma: It is not unreasonable to expect a civil reply from a councillor; that is their job, as described in 'A Councillor's Guide' ISBN 0 7488 9250 8. Should any particular councillor in Hove failed to have read it thoroughly, he or she should not be serving.
And ultimately, they will be held to account at election time, if you enough don't like what they say, or more importantly, how they say it, then they won't be relected.
That's the benefit of free speach, something which is now sadly very much lacking.
Tye
says...
6:26pm Mon 8 Feb 10
He should learn the standard reply - thank you for writing, bringing it to our attention, will be dealt with - which is ofcourse bovine effluent - If its a complaint its usually not even noted as a complaint as complaints look bad in their scorecards to Central Government
I'm sure the complainant is fully compos mentis - and has certificates to prove it from some of the best nutter doctors in Brighton
ITS A JOKE :) - OK!
Christophe Hawtree
says...
6:42pm Mon 8 Feb 10
And it emerges from the printed version of this article that he may not have written it himself, and so the saga takes another turn as speculation grows about which Conservative wrote it for him.
Fight Back
says...
9:09pm Mon 8 Feb 10
bug eye
says...
12:19am Tue 9 Feb 10
minimee
says...
9:59am Tue 9 Feb 10
Skippah
says...
10:25am Tue 9 Feb 10
Why should he have to tow the line and reply in default, boring council talk? That does my head in, I work in customer service and the amount of default replies my colleagues dish out is mind numbing, people need to be told how it is sometimes and not just pandered to. Their adults, if they can get upset by being spoken to less than perfectly I suggest they stay locked up in their rooms and out of the real world. BOO-HOO!!!
sussexone
says...
12:32pm Tue 9 Feb 10
Skippah wrote:Hear Hear! My thoughts entirely!
I welcome Mr Smith's attitude. His response was only human, in reply to a man who seems to be just another in a long list of sad, nimby types this city has. Why should he have to tow the line and reply in default, boring council talk? That does my head in, I work in customer service and the amount of default replies my colleagues dish out is mind numbing, people need to be told how it is sometimes and not just pandered to. Their adults, if they can get upset by being spoken to less than perfectly I suggest they stay locked up in their rooms and out of the real world. BOO-HOO!!!
Does the guy have nothing better to do than count plug sockets? Strange indeed!
Can I have a ticket for the duel please?
katetaylor
says...
1:48pm Tue 9 Feb 10
I have seen Mr Hawtree in attendance at council meetings, and I did feel his behaviour was perhaps a little bit impolite, even a little rude some might say, and I don't think this does anything to further either his cause or encourage the public or politicians to take an interest in local politics. I think that is the real shame of it.
Christophe Hawtree
says...
2:42pm Tue 9 Feb 10
If you can find the books on the library shelves. There is plenty of room for more of them, as so many want.
And now Cllr Smith has dug himself a deeper hole because, in the full printed version, he declares that he was defending librarians; which means that, by saying this, he makes them complicit in his most unfortunate approach. However, it is well known that librarians themselves would welcome more books, these being the essence of a library, and indeed any library campaign is concered that librarians' jobs should not only be secure but that they receive the necessary training to make a career of it. They are much appreciated people who can quietly make a tremendous difference to lives, and should not be at the mercy of library bureaucracy. The national press reports today that the Government could be ordering library cuts....
More News stories
- Updated: Gatwick Station death man "was tasered"
- Video: Motorcyclist dies after Brighton bus crash
- Misery on Sussex roads
- Sussex Checkatrade boss slams online review site
- Squatters could stay in Brighton and Hove's empty buildings
- Hove girl's bid for Miss Sussex
- Price hike for Brighton and Hove football fields
- Call to save Sussex high streets
- East Sussex approves £19m budget cuts
- Sussex hospital battles infectious bug
Most popular
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
Andre Spooner says...
2:09pm Mon 8 Feb 10
What has happened to this country? One day our elected politicians will have to listen to the plight of the Mighty Horse. I shall ride to Whitehall to comment on these issues to some of the key civil servants of the day. Spooner rides again!