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Hi Howard,
I’d always thank you for posting local issues here, engaging with people and keeping Dover issues alive but I don’t think you’ve been given the full and correct information.
Below is Keith’s original text message so you and others can read it for themselves.
We have not had a disagreement about the ward or working together. I would never do that. This ward has had 2 Conservative, 1 UKIP and 3 other Labour councillors since 2015. You will not be able to find any one of them will say I haven’t worked with them. For example the 2 benches in Elms Vale Rec were jointly paid for by the 2 Lab/2 Tory Councillors. I have never turned down an offer to work/support any other councillor. I also give credit where it is due. Roger Walkden had new bins installed in the ward in 2015 and whenever a resident around that area points out issues about litter I do say “Roger got new bins put in here...” etc. I’m not a churlish person.
Keith sent me the text message after the council meeting last week. In the meeting Keith put forward a motion to freeze council tax and I said that I would support Keith’s motion if he could show me his plan to keep council tax frozen. As he didn’t have one I said I couldn’t vote for it. That is where the dispute arose.
I have supported Keith’s motions previously. I think the most recent was his idea to cancel paying a private PR firm. A good idea of Keith’s that I will continue to support.
After the meeting Keith and I met in the doorway as we were leaving. We shook hands and he said that we should leave behind the dispute in the chamber. It was over as far as we were concerned. I was happy with that. Differences come up but you get over them.
It was later that night that I received his text message that said I had rushed off, when I hadn’t. (We’d spoken and shaken hands.) He then said that he was willing to start using personal attacks on me. I think 1) personal attacks are below the belt, particularly in local politics. 2) to send someone a text message like that was a direct attempt to intimidate me/bully me.
I think that neither is acceptable from an adult, particularly not from someone elected to a council. If it was sent to someone vulnerable, I don’t think I could stand for it, so I called it out.
I mean no harm at all to Keith. He is a councillor with decades of experience and I have always been willing to support him, learn from him and work with him. I have not asked anyone to write on my Facebook page. Hopefully this is something that will be forgotten in a few weeks. I did offer to shake Keith’s hand on Saturday when he came to an event organised by John Heron, hoping it would be the start of putting this behind us, but he wouldn’t shake my hand. I didn’t bring his text message up to be vindictive. I felt it was bullying and I don’t feel it can be endorsed or allowed to happen.
PS Jan, my Facebook is open to friends only so any posts you see will look old but I post a few times a day. You’ll get a better view by looking at my twitter account. I regularly tweet about ward issues and the work I’m doing.
Keith’s text:
“hi as you rushed off i will now after meeting with you and jobn h i did think we was to work together to ihhts outburst showed this to be impossible and so i will go bk to wprking with those who dupport a better dover and im afraid our meeting onviously meant nothing on prrsonal atacks so be ready for returns.”