Monday 11 August 2014

A Letter in today's Western Mail

A letter from a resident of Carmarthenshire published in today's Western Mail;

Do these councillors feel threatened? 
Sir – That a public servant should be allowed to sue a local council taxpayer out of public funds is as astonishing as it is amoral, but it seems that in Carmarthenshire it is endorsed by the local gaggle of county councillors. 
Perhaps they view the possible demise of their chief executive as a threat to themselves? We all know that when certain people fall out, ordinary people benefit. Similarly, the one accused can so often bring down those with similar faults. Maybe the county councillors of Carmarthenshire are running scared of what might be revealed? I can think of no other reason that they should throw out the decision of the Assistant Auditor General for Wales, Anthony Barrett in his public interest report in which he said the council acted unlawfully in underwriting Mr James’s counterclaim. 
There can be no getting away from the fact that Mr James, and those councillors who backed his actions, acted against the best interests of the council taxpayers of Carmarthenshire. His was a private action and he should have paid the price of hiring top London lawyers. It was not for any county councillor to underwrite his expenses. Had the litigant had to consider his intentions at greater depth, undoubtedly he would have thought rather more deeply about bringing a case against the blogger who was seeking to highlight his failures, as well as those of the local county council. 
Maureen Jenner
Carmarthenshire 
(Source; Western Mail)


Recent posts;
Western Mail reports on libel enforcement
Enforcement of counterclaim damages

Wales Audit Office; Indemnity for Libel Counterclaim - Carmarthenshire County Council - Report in the Public Interest, published January 2014


6 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Lesley said...

Excellent letter which I wholeheartedly endorse - glad to see that Maureen is still on form!

Anonymous said...

Hear, hear Lesley. I take my hat off to Maureen Jenner who I am sure has summed up the feelings of the majority of people.

Anonymous said...

Maureen is not one to mince her words.

She sums up the situation very well and quite rightly shines the spotlight on our feeble county councillors.

An excellent summary and the comment regarding funding of the process exemplifies the mindset of Mark James.

I don't believe he is really fit for public office any more.

Well done Mrs Jenner. More people should take a lead from you.

caebrwyn said...

To Anon 12:01 who left the web address to a '38 Degrees' petition regarding Carmarthenshire County Council;

I hope you can understand that due to my current legal position, I am unable to endorse the wording of the title of the petition by sharing it on this blog.
If you wish to contact me directly, please drop me an email; kthompson855@btinternet.com

Anonymous said...

A petition is a great idea although I think the use of the word corruption might put people off signing it