Email sent to Executive LibDem Councillor Mark Weldon –
Dear Councillor Weldon
You are paid a lot of money to do the work you do. If I want to contact you I will.
Please could you clarify the appeal process regarding my being banned from asking public questions regarding Harcourt Street. You were of the eroneous opinion that I was given access to documents under the FOIA on this subject. The Information Commission has told the Council to reconsider under the EIR 2004. I asked in the first place under the EIR 2004, so it would appear the Council hasn’t got a leg to stand on.
I know a lot more about the FOIA than you do – when they reply I will be able to work out the cost of one night in such a prison and the cost of the abandoned trial in January, the one in July, the proposed one in September and the High Court Appeal. I am currently getting the cost of the police being called over 80 times, the 11 arrests and the nights spent in a police cell. I will take those figures when I have the final amount to the Taxpayers’ Alliance and with their help get a news story with a link to the actual CCTV footage of the non-incident involving Mr Parnell via the Internet. I am sure the cost will come to hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not more.
I want to know whether you checked the situation regarding my position and the FOI inquiries before you sent that email the other night. Either you checked and were lied to or you didn’t bother to check that I hadn’t had access to a large number of documetns. I shall be putting in a complaint to the Standards Board when, if ever, I receive a sensible response from you. There is already a complaint in about Goddard calling me a liar publicly which he hasn’t provided proof of and his gloating email about Mr. Parnell being in prison and him sending me confidential documents about Mr. Parnell. Someone is going to start asking questions about what on earth is going on in this town under the Liberal Democraps.
Sheila
Email received from Weldon with no reference to Mr Parnell in it – 08 August 2009 18:52
Mrs Oliver,
I was merely trying to be helpful and reminding you that the vexatious ruling was specifically on requests from you on that particular subject and not a blanket ban. You were misleading others in saying that this was a blanket ban. I did not want this factual error to be propagated by yourself, even if it was done inadvertently and without malice, as the councillor code of conduct obliges me to assume is the case in the conduct of my official duties.
The exchange did finally prove to me that as you were unable to name the precise documents you wanted, and the enquiries were indeed meant to disrupt the business of the council and so those requests were indeed vexatious. Indeed the correspondence started with a cryptic email from yourself consisting of just the words “either way I win”, as if this was just a game you were playing. I do not play games. I have a serious responsibility to provide sustainable educational facilities in North Reddish.
As an email from yourself yesterday declared I was a “complete idiot” I am not in a position to advise you of the appeal procedures. I think it would be sensible to get more expert opinion, especially as you declare (most probably correctly) you know more about FoI than I do. I am not surprised at this as you have in recent years submitted thousands of such requests.
Your constant threats to complain to the standards board are becoming repetitive. I always treat you with respect despite abusive and misleading and possibly libellous emails from yourself and I have always taken your points seriously, and have gone out of my way to be open and honest.
In the eight days of August 2009 you have emailed me 19 times , in July 2009, you emailed me 22 times, in June you emailed me 10 times. With regards to future emails; as from next week I am routing all emails from yourself to the FoI officer and they will only go to me if there is a relevant point the officer needs to verify with me. This is to avoid the constant barrage of offensive, and mocking and irrelevant emails you direct at me.
Sincerely
Mark Weldon
