It was alleged that the Former Member of Llandudno Town Council (“the Council”) had bullied and harassed the Complainant, a fellow colleague, and that he also failed to treat her with respect, and had acted in a way which brought his office as member, and the local authority into disrepute.
We found that the Former Member had sent some unpleasant communications by letter, texts and on social media to/about the Complainant. He indicated that if she did not resign from her position on Council, he would expose her alleged wrongdoing publicly. When the Complainant did not resign, he continued to write and post about his concerns on social media. While he did not name the Complainant on social media, it was clear that his posts related to her, and they caused considerable upset and worry to the Complainant.
We found that the Former Member’s behaviour was suggestive of breaches of the Code. While such matters would ordinarily be referred to the Local Authority’s Standards Committee to determine any breaches and sanction, on this occasion, given the particular personal circumstances of the Former Member, we decided it was not be in the public interest to pursue matters further.