Regular readers may recall that recently we sent a letter to the town clerk, Frank Pentony, asking why he refused to place a question from Councilor Oliver Morgan on the agenda of the January town council meeting. The question asked about the legal position of the town council relating to a land zoning issue on the Lower Point road. Frank Pentony did not place the question or respond to our letter.
He did however, send an email to Councilor Morgan explaining his reasons for not allowing the questions. We have posted the email at the end of this article. In brief it states that the councilor's question was dealt with at the December meeting, that the question would not be placed because it was hypothetical and that no hypothetical questions would ever be entertained in the counci meetings again.
People Before Profit Dundalk was shocked at the dictatorial tone of the response. We checked it out and have discovered that, according to the minutes of the December meeting, the question was not dealt with. Then we checked the Local Government Act 2001, the standing orders and and the code of conduct for councilors and nowhere could we find one sentence or clause giving Pentony the authority to stop a councilor placing a reasonable question on the agenda.
Frank Pentony's excuse was that it was a hypothetical questions but this holds no water. Many questions, especially legal and planning questions, are hypothetical. A hypothetical question asks what if. Imagine a council not allowing questions like ' What if there is an accident, are the council liable?, or ' What if there is a high tide, will the land we are zoning flood?' What if questions are the backbone of sensible and solid future planning and yet Frank Pentony has taken it upon himself to declare that from now on no elected officials shall be allowed to ask such questions at town council meetings.This is clearly unacceptable.
Some readers may have noted a few weeks ago that we sent an observer to January's council meeting. He reported back to us that many motions involving millions of Euros were being passed without any questions. He also reported that often when councilors did ask questions they were prevented from doing so by the chair and unelected officials. It is clear that our town council is being run like a dictatorship. We made a promise in our last article that we would have observers at all monthly meeting and warned those involved that we would be reporting back to the public on what we observe. It is hoped that this will immediately bring some sanity back to the meetings. But this is not enough and we hope you can help.
We would like you to write, phone or email Frank Pentony asking where he got the authority to stop representatives that you elected from asking questions. We have written a sample question that you could ask him, it is posted below. We must use pressure from every angle to clean our town up and your help is essential. We will keep you posted on our progress. We are also working on a number of council issues that are to say the least shocking and will be publicising the outcome of this research very soon. Together we are strong.
Please send the following question to Frank Penony, Town Clerk....
"Where did you get the authority to censor the town council monthly meeting agenda? Is there legislation, a standing order or protocol document that allows you to refuse to place a question on the agenda because it is considered hypothetical?"
Send this to .... frank.pentony@dundalktown.ie
or write to
Frank Pentony, Town Clerk, Dundalk Town Council
Or telephone; 042 9332276
From Frank Pentony
Sent 25/01/2011, 18.31
To Oliver Morgan
Subject: Ommission of my notice of three questions from the Clar for our January meeting
Dear Oliver,
I refer to your email of today's date in relation to the above.
I wish to advise you that your notices of questions were ommitted for the followwing reasons
No Q1 This was answered at the december meeting
NoQ2 This was a hypothetical question. I also wish to advise you that no future hypothetical questions will be entertained on the agenda.
NoQ3 It is my understanding that this question is Sub Judice and therefore the question is inappropraite at this time. It should be noted that the executive has an obligation to protect the council and the public at all times and will do al it can, within the law, to discharge this obligation.
I trust this clarifies the matter
Kind regards
Frank Pentony.
He did however, send an email to Councilor Morgan explaining his reasons for not allowing the questions. We have posted the email at the end of this article. In brief it states that the councilor's question was dealt with at the December meeting, that the question would not be placed because it was hypothetical and that no hypothetical questions would ever be entertained in the counci meetings again.
People Before Profit Dundalk was shocked at the dictatorial tone of the response. We checked it out and have discovered that, according to the minutes of the December meeting, the question was not dealt with. Then we checked the Local Government Act 2001, the standing orders and and the code of conduct for councilors and nowhere could we find one sentence or clause giving Pentony the authority to stop a councilor placing a reasonable question on the agenda.
Frank Pentony's excuse was that it was a hypothetical questions but this holds no water. Many questions, especially legal and planning questions, are hypothetical. A hypothetical question asks what if. Imagine a council not allowing questions like ' What if there is an accident, are the council liable?, or ' What if there is a high tide, will the land we are zoning flood?' What if questions are the backbone of sensible and solid future planning and yet Frank Pentony has taken it upon himself to declare that from now on no elected officials shall be allowed to ask such questions at town council meetings.This is clearly unacceptable.
Some readers may have noted a few weeks ago that we sent an observer to January's council meeting. He reported back to us that many motions involving millions of Euros were being passed without any questions. He also reported that often when councilors did ask questions they were prevented from doing so by the chair and unelected officials. It is clear that our town council is being run like a dictatorship. We made a promise in our last article that we would have observers at all monthly meeting and warned those involved that we would be reporting back to the public on what we observe. It is hoped that this will immediately bring some sanity back to the meetings. But this is not enough and we hope you can help.
We would like you to write, phone or email Frank Pentony asking where he got the authority to stop representatives that you elected from asking questions. We have written a sample question that you could ask him, it is posted below. We must use pressure from every angle to clean our town up and your help is essential. We will keep you posted on our progress. We are also working on a number of council issues that are to say the least shocking and will be publicising the outcome of this research very soon. Together we are strong.
Please send the following question to Frank Penony, Town Clerk....
"Where did you get the authority to censor the town council monthly meeting agenda? Is there legislation, a standing order or protocol document that allows you to refuse to place a question on the agenda because it is considered hypothetical?"
Send this to .... frank.pentony@dundalktown.ie
or write to
Frank Pentony, Town Clerk, Dundalk Town Council
Or telephone; 042 9332276
From Frank Pentony
Sent 25/01/2011, 18.31
To Oliver Morgan
Subject: Ommission of my notice of three questions from the Clar for our January meeting
Dear Oliver,
I refer to your email of today's date in relation to the above.
I wish to advise you that your notices of questions were ommitted for the followwing reasons
No Q1 This was answered at the december meeting
NoQ2 This was a hypothetical question. I also wish to advise you that no future hypothetical questions will be entertained on the agenda.
NoQ3 It is my understanding that this question is Sub Judice and therefore the question is inappropraite at this time. It should be noted that the executive has an obligation to protect the council and the public at all times and will do al it can, within the law, to discharge this obligation.
I trust this clarifies the matter
Kind regards
Frank Pentony.
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