Meeting? What meeting?

I was looking forward to the minutes of the TLB (That Lamentable Balls-up). I was really looking forward to the video. I was going to teach myself basic video editing, so that I could splice together Cllr Hayton's interjections and set them to an amusing soundtrack. However...

One of the audience at the Thanet Local Board's entry in The Worst-run Meeting of the Year awards agreed to being video-recorded on the understanding that a copy of the recording be made available. The recording proved elusive: first there was a brief diversion: "we need permission from the parents of the kids from the Kent Youth Council". Then came the suggestion of a phone call, for a quiet word presumably. And now, in a dazzling masterstroke... it vanishes.

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October 6 2010
Dear Councillor Carter,

I write to make you aware of the increasing disquiet and anger of a widespread and rapidly growing number of East Kent individuals and groups involved in examining the future of the proposed Kent International Airport development.

The two recent public meetings I have attended (KIACC 17/9 and Thanet Local Board 27/9) attracted a larger than expected number of members of the public. Discussion at both was less than useful, as was accurate information sought from those elected to represent them in response to the publics" questions.

The Thanet Local Board meeting (attended by yourself) was a travesty - shambolic, bullying and rude chairmanship by Cllr Bill Hayton; avoidance or refusal to respond to questions; another exercise in kicking the real issues into the long grass.

I now understand, surprise, surprise, that there is no record of this meeting. No accurate minutes were taken and the video document taken of the whole proceedings has disappeared. We"re told that the operator didn"t press the right button (despite members of the audience seeing the red record light was on!). How very convenient! If this farce continues a growing number of East Kent constituents will be seeking a quick exit for members of both Councils - and their highly paid executives.

I would like to know what action you intend to take to prevent any repetition of this kind of fiasco and allow your constituents to access factual and honest information about KIA developments. In the light of the impending consultation process through TDC now being mooted it is essential that the whole exercise is both democratic and transparently fair, and not, as many fear, a quasi-legal rubber stamping of matters already decided behind doors.

Yours Sincerely

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Here's some of what would undoubtedly have been a viral video hit, as reported by yourthanet.co.uk:

A member of the public got up close and personal to remonstrate with Kent County Council leader Paul Carter on Monday night (September 27). Ramsgate resident Malcolm Kirkaldie mounted the stage at Chatham House Grammar School as the atmosphere at the KCC Thanet Local Board meeting soured.

He was annoyed at the way the meeting was being chaired by councillor Bill Hayton and said he felt that not all the people asking questions of the panel were not being allowed to ask supplementary questions. He was riled when a man asking questions before him was not allowed to ask a further question, and then when his own turn came to ask something immediately afterwards, a growing sense of disorganisation and clarity took its toll.

Just a few seconds into his question, Cllr Hayton tried to hurry Mr Kirkaldie into getting to his point before he was allowed to add some context to what he was saying. An irritated audience berated the chairman as Mr Kirkaldie got up from his seat to leave.

At first it looked like Mr Kirkaldie was going to storm out, but he turned on to the stage and, standing yards from the shocked-looking KCC leader, gave him a tongue-lashing – although exactly what he said was not clear. Cllr Hayton told Mr Kirkaldie to get off the stage several times before he obliged and left the meeting in the school hall, slamming the doors behind him.

He complained outside that the whole meeting was being carried out in an undemocratic fashion but later re-entered looking relaxed. Mr Kirkaldie was seen chatting amicably with Cllr Carter outside the hall after the event, and Yourthanet understands he was able to put his question to him in the end. Nevertheless, there was widespread dissatisfaction with the way the meeting had been conducted.

One member of the audience, who declined to be named, described the event as "probably the worst public meeting I have attended in my whole life".

How not to chair a meeting Part 2

Oh my, it just gets better. Ramsgate seems to have a generous sprinkling of sensible people, and as luck would have it, quite a few of them made it to the recent Thanet Local Board meeting. Here we have a measured and reasonable critique of the Chairing of the meeting, the preparedness of the panel, and the quality of their answers. Click on the names for more information, contact details, etc.

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Dear Cllr Carter

As head of KCC I am writing to you to complain about various aspects of last night’s meeting of the Thanet Local Board at Chatham House and the persons that come under your management.

Firstly I would like to say that I was appalled and quite frankly astounded at the rudeness, incompetency and patronising manner of the Chair, Cllr Bill Hayton. His conduct was disrespectful to the public, who had made an effort to come and listen and give their views. He spoke down to individuals, although he did this on a selective basis, I notice that when a councillor spoke, the lady in question was not asked to ‘get to her question’. He did not listen to the questions given, hence referring to the wrong person for answer and he did not hold the panel into account when they did not actually answer the question. I am still pondering as to why, when Mr Selby from the audience asked ‘why the planes were taking off over his house?’, Mr Buchanan spoke of being abroad and not being able to go round to Mr Selby’s  house? Does this relate to the question asked? I was also at the KIACC meeting ten days ago and whilst the offer of ‘coming to assess the noise’ was mentioned at that meeting by Mr Buchanan, this was not the question put to him last night.

Is Cllr Hayton fit to Chair? Is he the figure head you want to represent you at a meeting? You, yourself, when a lady from the audience and I spoke to you about Cllr Hayton’s manner said, ‘it should have been comments and questions’, yet I fail to see you hold a KCC member into account for such shoddy Chairing. Might I suggest you take action on this and speak to the person involved. I would suggest for meetings to go ahead in a conducive manner you would need an impartial Chair and not one that is antiquated and obviously not interested in letting the public have their say. I cannot emphasise enough what poor publicity you gave yourself last night through sheer sloppyness.

Secondly, I would like to point out that whilst, Cllr Bayford has ‘only been in the role since May’, a point that he reiterated through the evening, he has had long enough to familiarise himself with all aspects of the job in hand and learn from his various working parties what is going on. The public make the effort to research areas affecting themselves and bring information along, Cllr Bayford shakes his head and asks his ‘officers’. As leader of TDC he is accountable for TDC’s actions, surely if you are attending a public meeting where such areas of discussion are going to come up, you would have had the grace to do your homework and look into the issues being raised at the meeting? Again, lazy research, defensive tactics and another reason that the public is distrustful of TDC’s actions. Let us not forget you had two members of the public willing to help him with information, that he said was not in his possession, that they had managed to get from TDC themselves!

Let us look into the comments made last night. Cllr Bayford, again took time to explain, with some surprise, that most people think that Politicians lie. TDC have had a document in their possession for two weeks regarding night flights and time and time again refuse to acknowledge this. Why then is that document in the hands of the public and certain Councillors are actually admitting that it has been seen by TDC? Why are questions raised by Louise Oldfield, Reading Rooms, Margate altered in the minutes of a meeting she attended, and the criticisms taken out? She had to ask to see a televised recording of the meeting and ask for her comments to be re-instated intact. That is falsifying information. 

Again, Cllr Bayford did not answer questions he was asked. A question clearly stated ‘was independent research into the effects of noise from aircraft on health and education going to go ahead, before the public consultation, so that these statistics could be put to the public, to help allow people to make an educated decision on night flights?’ Cllr Bayford did not answer that question, he talked about the data being give from the airport. Entirely different and totally un-impartial. 

The incompetency of TDC astounds me. They assume that they can do what they like and are not accountable for their actions. The attitude shown to the public last night was rude, patronising and offensive. The meeting was held for the public to address their views, ask valid questions and be given facts. You failed on all counts. Instead you gave the impression that our ideas and concerns were of no importance and the proposal of night flights was a ‘done deal’. There is advice from Mr Twyman, Chair of KIACC suggesting that TDC could be in breach of statutory duties if actions are not taken with regard to issues of the night flight proposal, and yet Cllr Bayford still refers to his officers!

I would like a reply from yourself with regard to action taken about Cllr Hayton’s manner and my comments noted by Cllr Bayford that we are rightly suspicious of his actions. 

Yours Sincerely

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Would you like to see the minutes of this meeting?

How not to chair a meeting

As meetings go, it was messy. The high point was probably the brief presentations by the kids from the Kent Youth Council - keen on democracy, and happy to roll their sleeves up and get stuck in. Excellent stuff. They easily outshone the Thanet Local Board. Until recently, I hadn't known the TLB existed, and I had never seen Cllr Hayton. Happy days.

We were treated to monlogues from Paul Carter (KCC) on the tightness of the tight times that are coming, from Andrew Pearce (Environment Agency) on how watchful they are, from Charles Buchanan (Infratil) about the glorious future for Manston, and Paul Crick (KCC Highways) about his two projects - linking Ashford and Thanet, and Thanet Parkway Station. They used to call it Manston Parkway... I think calling it "Thanet Parkway" simply reflects the fact that Paul Crick has no idea where it's going to be built, other than in Thanet somewhere, presumably.

So far, so meeting. Cllr Hayton, who until this point had been quite cordial, invited questions from the floor, and became a man transformed. I got the impression of impatience bordering on petulance as he interrupted questioners in mid-flow, demanding the punchline. This is simply a bad way to chair a public meeting. Most people avoid public speaking, and on the odd occasion when it is thrust upon them, they'll just do their best. It may not be as crisp as Cllr Hayton is used to in the Council chamber, but that's something he should make allowances for. A short preamble helps the person being questioned, and the audience, make sense of the question.

One questioner was interrupted so often by Cllr Hayton that he simply stopped trying to ask his question, picked up his papers and marched towards the door while cries of "Shame on you!" and "Let him ask his question!" were directed at the Chair. At the last minute, our departing questioner took a left turn, went up onto the stage, and leant across the table to have a terse but quiet nose-to-nose conversation with Cllr Carter. Particularly gripping given that he's a trained killer. The questioner, that is, not Cllr Carter.

And he wasn't the only one who wasn't impressed with the TLB - a very sensible woman from Ramsgate wrote...

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Dear Cllr Carter,

Further to my conversation with you this evening at the end of the Thanet Local Board meeting, I am writing to formally complain about the chairing of the meeting by Cllr Hayton.  At a meeting where the public are invited to come and listen and to contribute their views, a Chair who repeatedly and rudely cut off members of the public as they were speaking is, frankly, trampling on every notion of participatory democracy.  Given the concern of all parties at local, regional and national levels over the decline in participation in democratic politics and given the high levels of public mistrust of our politicians, it seems incredible that an elected official should behave in such an outrageous fashion. 

It is often with some degree of trepidation and nervousness that members of the public stand up to speak at meetings, generally we are not regular or accomplished public speakers and to have to listen to Cllr Hayton repeatedly barking at people was shocking.  He appears not to be aware that it is customary at meetings for people to precede their questions with some introductory comments.  Indeed, questions would often not make sense without these.  It was not the case that comments and questions were lengthy or repetitious as he frequently asserted or implied.  Rather, it appeared that he was trying to stifle public comment and debate.  His manner, tone and behaviour were provocative and clearly distressing to many members of the audience.  And, this is someone who sits on a select committee assessing democracy! Extraordinary.

I would be most pleased to receive your response to this formal complaint.

Kind regards

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If you liked this, you'll love Part 2... and would you like to see the minutes?