THE clerk of Horsforth Town Council has resigned after just five months claiming that some of its members bullied and harassed her.
Alison Bond, 29, of Barfield Avenue, Yeadon, Leeds, says she started her £15,000 a year job in January with high hopes and was full of enthusiasm for what might be achieved.
She was keen to develop links with community groups and organise grant ap
plications and, having lived in the Leeds area for 10 years, she was eager to get involved with the local community and do what she could to make a difference.
But, she says, it was not long before problems started and her authority began to be questioned. She decided the situation had become impossible for her to continue when, after a meeting of the full council, she was ''reduced to tears''.
In her resignation letter to council chairman Councillor Jude Arbuckle, she said that ''a small number of councillors seem determined to undermine my professionalism and any element of responsibility the role involves.
"One councillor in particular persistently questions my decisions and his controlling behaviour could, at times, be considered bullying and harassment.
"The same councillors have also been disrespectful to other council members in a way that is completely unprofessional and unacceptable. It is my opinion that some members of the council are so politically driven that they have lost sight of the community they were elected to serve
"These councillors hold so tightly to the majority their party has achieved and the monopoly they have over decision-making that they fear change and have made it extremely difficult for me to do my job.
"I do not wish to work for a council who put the interests of a particular party before those of the community or whose decisions are predetermined at a prior party meeting.''
Mrs Bond said there were several ''difficult'' characters on the Lib-Dem dominated council, which was formed in 1999, and she found one member "very aggressive'' and his way of dealing with her "very abrupt''.
She said: "I was not being allowed to get on with the job I was being paid to do.''
Coun Arbuckle said he and the vice-chairman Ian Scott met her on May 23 at the council's offices to discuss a solution to the situation.
He said: "An extensive, open discussion took place but Alison felt nothing could be done to reverse her decision and that it was in her best interests to leave. The discussion, however, did highlight her inexperience of local politics and naivety of the workings of the local council. Alison did bring professional administrative skills to the post and the council did fully benefit from them.
"It is with regret therefore that the chairman of the council accepted her resignation. She is a nice lady and we wish her well.''
Regarding her most serious accusations he added: "Bullying and harassment come in many forms.
"However, harassment does not occur when someone is unable to accept or deal with contrary views put forward by a more forceful person."
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