’Political vandalism’ could occur in Port St Mary if a series of proposals are supported.

That’s the view of the commissioners’ chairman Laurence Vaughan-Williams, who has invited the public along to the local authority’s AGM tomorrow (Wednesday).

The AGM will be followed by a standard public board meeting at which items for discussion include proposals Manxonia House be sold and that the board be reduced in size from nine to five members.

The subject of amalgamation with Port Erin is raised in a letter from a resident concerned there should be full consultation with the public.

The authority has had a troubled few months. The former clerk Alastair Hamilton was on sick leave from January and left in April, and a police investigation was held into how information about two extraordinary general meetings [EGMs] concerning the clerk were leaked to the press.

Ratepayers have raised concerns about the 5.2% rate rise and the purchase of run-down Manxonia House for £191,000.

A motion tabled by commissioner Robert Hirst and seconded by Ian Skelly calls for Manxonia House to be offered for sale on the open market immediately.

It states that the building is now water-tight but requires extensive internal refurbishment and the offer price should be adjusted to reflect the current state of the property and the work completed so far.

Mr Vaughan-Williams, who became chairman in March after there was a vote of no confidence in previous chairman Alan Grace, admitted: ’There is rather a troubled history in Port St Mary of losing clerks. The public must be sick to the back teeth of it. I want to get on with the job of managing the village.’

He said several areas need addressing including training for commissioners, and following established processes relating to employees. Mr Vaughan-Williams said he believed these had not been followed in the case of his predecessor Alan Grace, who he has said had ’found himself assailed on all sides’, and Mr Hamilton.

He said: ’I do not believe procedure was followed at the time. They should have sought guidance. I’m not condemning anyone but there’s a procedure if there are complaints. That’s why it went on for so long and views were so polarised.

’Somebody has got to get a grip of the commissioners, we are a laughing stock with our inabilty to retain clerks.

’We need a long term plan for the village and I’m not just talking about hanging baskets and cutting grass. We should plan what we as a board want to achieve.’

Mr Vaughan-Williams said he has ’no truck’ with amalgamation, or using Port Erin’s clerk to oversee Port St Mary’s deputy clerk, which he described as ’amalgamation by stealth’.

He rejected the idea of reducing the board to five, saying that would ’rob the diversity of views we have’.

And he added: ’I have got a vision for the future of the village. It involves giving people more information.

’Ã’m just worried for the future. If the clerk of another village is brought in, it’s going to be political vandalism. We need to see things through. There are too many kneejerk reactions.’

Mr Vaughan-Williams said he wanted as many members of the public as possible to attend tomorrow night’s meeting. He said: ’People moan about what’s going on but they do not engage. I would like everybody who is like me, a professional awkward, to have their say.’