A public meeting should be held to address an erosion of confidence in Onchan Commissioners, according to one of the village’s MHKs.
Julie Edge says a deterioration in professionalism needs to be addressed.
It follows the suspension of chief executive and clerk Linda Radcliffe, who is understood to have been suspended pending an investigation for misconduct, following allegations of bullying.
Ms Radcliffe has been in the post since November 2018, having replaced the previous clerk who was sacked in 2017. Michael Morrison’s employment tribunal was settled out of court.
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The commissioners have declined to comment.
Ms Edge said there was concern over an amount of legal costs, believed to be around £7,500.
Ms Edge said: ’This question of legal costs was raised (at the public meeting on June 14) and rate-payers deserve a breakdown on what these legal costs are for. We need transparency from the commissioners.’
As the Examiner went to press, no new candidates had come forward to contest the seven seats on the local authority. The deadline for declarations was Tuesday.
Ms Edge said: ’All I have seen is a deterioration in professionalism over the past six months. If there is not an election and everybody walks back in, there should be a meeting to address the public’s concerns.’
The legal costs came after the authority paid for an advertisement distancing the authority from comments from commissioner David Quirk, a former MHK.
It dissociated the local authority from comments made by Mr Quirk.
In October 2019, James Cherry, who has been a commissioner for three years, resigned.
He cited ’personal attacks’ in a letter to the board shared with Isle of Man Newspapers.
In his letter to chief executive Linda Robinson, chairman Robin Turton and other members, Mr Cherry said it was ’with deepest regret’ he had decided to resign.
His letter added: ’I feel that the atmosphere which has been created in recent times in the boardroom has been toxic with members of the board, whom I will not publicly name, aiming personal attacks at myself at board meetings.
’This is further without any prior discussion with me simply uncalled for and does not present the professionalism that the people of Onchan would expect from their representatives.’