http://www.middevongazette.co.uk/Fra...ail/story.html

Fraudster councillor from Tiverton is forced off committees by disgusted colleagues

15th May 2014

Quote Originally Posted by middvongazette
A TIVERTON councillor who was convicted of benefit fraud earlier this year, was forced off of two town council committees on Monday by disgusted colleagues.

Cranmore councillor Kevin Wilson had applied to be a member of Tiverton Town Council’s Finance and General Purposes and Planning committees for 2104-2015 but was blocked by fellow councillors at the annual council meeting on May 12.

Cllr Wilson received a suspended jail sentence in February following a £3,800 benefits fiddle against his own authority. He used the money to send his teenaged daughter to a £9,000-a-year public school.

The former Tiverton Mayor has apologised for his actions but refused to resign as councillor, stating that it would be up to the electors to decide his fate.

Thirteen councillors voted in favour of blocking Cllr Wilson’s committee applications after Castle Ward councillor Tim Bridger raised concerns over whether the town council should be endorsing a councillor convicted of benefit fraud.

Councillor Bridger proposed a secret ballot to decide if Wilson should be allowed to be a member of the committees.

Former Mayor Janet Rendle seconded the proposal, stating that the members of the town council were being ‘seen as the same’ by members of the public and that the reputation of the council was at stake.

While district and town councillor Neal Davey supported the motion, he disagreed that the ballot should take place in secret, stating that the public should be allowed to know which way he voted.

He said: “I don’t believe Kevin Wilson is fit; he has committed benefit fraud and received a suspended sentence for that.

“I do not believe we should have a secret ballot. I am elected by and accountable to the public and they have a right to know how I vote.”

Cranmore councillor Tony Hendy called the vote “ridiculous” and withdrew his application to be a part of the finance and general purposes committee at the meeting but said that his withdrawal was nothing to do with Cllr Wilson.

A vote took place to decide whether the councillors would vote in secret or publicly with eight votes recorded for and eight against.

Newly-elected Mayor Sue Griggs held the deciding vote opting to see the public ballot take place in which Cllr Wilson was kept out of the committees.

Former Liberal Democrat Wilson will continue as a councillor for Cranmore until the elections next year, but currently is not a member of any of the town council’s committees.

Cllr Wilson declined to comment.
And the last one... another appalling joke of a councillor belonging to the three main parties.

For every slur posted against Ukip, I can post countless ones for the LibLabCon.