Tax Payers pay for Political mission

You couldn't make this up. With the austerity that Local Councils are facing due to the Conservative Cuts you would think the last thing that would be on Councils agenda is to waste money on shutting up Opposition Cllrs.

It is long been known in the Wigan Politics scene that the Chief Executive is political biased, something that is against the rules. Over the years the sitting Chief Executive Donna Hall has made it her job and mission to get outspoken opposition Cllrs out of office, something she always denies. Mind you she has been caught out lying a couple of times on BBC Radio shows. But if being political biased, lying on BBC Radio isn't bad enough she has then used tax payers money to carry her mission out.

As well as myself the Chief Executive has targeted Cllr Jim Ellis, Cllr George Fairhurst and Cllr Bob Brierley.

With regards the later Cllr it is clear that he has taken a lot of the heat. Including her making an allegation of harassment towards her. In this allegation she said at one incident he was pressurising her staff to allow him to she her. At that time she popped her head out of her office to ask for her PA to get a member of staff for her and get them into her office. In this case she said to the police she was that scared that her heart was racing because she was that scared and her legs were shaking and she thought she would collapse. Now this was a serious allegation and Cllr Brierley was arrested and questioned under caution. When asked about this incident he denied it. they asked could he prove it? Sure I taped the whole incident! We all know in the political circles in Wigan Cllr Brierley tapes everything. So when he said he was in the reception area for all the PA's and dropping something off for the deputy leader and then Donna Hall bobbed out she said, "Hi Bob." As soon as the tape was passed to the Police guess what? The charges were dropped. Now had he not got lots of evidence inc this tape then he could have been sent to jail for this crime which he was being alleged to have done. Good job he records everything after all.

Questions come to mind and say when the crime was exasperated to get Cllr arrested and charged and that was not the case why was the Chief Executive not arrested and charged with wasting Police time and or mis use of public office. I have asked Greater Police for a comment on the matter and they said because of Purdah they can't say anything more than this case was investigated and after a review of the evidence it was dropped. Now just for those that are not aware of what Purdah is, this is where authorities cannot comment on people in elections. Neither Donna Hall nor Bob Brierley are in the elections for Greater Manchester Mayor.

Also on the day of his Election last year she was seen causing Criminal Damage by ripping Cllr's Brierley posters down off Private Property, which he had been given permission to put his posters on. Because they were fixed on quite strong she ripped them down and cut them off with scissors. She said she had the power to do this as returning officers, which is false again just like her role as a Chief Executive she has to be impartial. Something she obviously finds hard to do.

You would think the embarrassment to the Chief executive on the Police matter would be big enough to stop all these lies. O no! She has got external solicitors to send and threatened the Cllrs named above, with the exception of Cllr George Fairhurst. Now Wigan council legal dept already costs over £500,000 a year but they have used costly external solicitors. In one incident just weeks before last Yrs local election the council paid just short of £40,000, that's right £40,000 in one month, to try and keep Cllr Brierley quiet and threaten him if he didn't. I have seen these invoices and can confirm them. And yet again he had done thing wrong and no action was ever taken up against him. In fact the total bill for all the Council's political work against the Cllrs above is again just over £500,000.

Along with all of this, if this was not enough she refuses to allow Cllr Brierley to hold surgeries and also refuses him to have a Council email address, so residents cannot contact him either via email or surgeries. All these sanctions are illegal under the Localism Act but the Chief Executive does this because she knows that it would cost Cllr Brierley 10,000's of pounds to take it to Court.

To date Donna Hall has used the police to try and get this Cllr and failed. She has wasted tens of thousands of tax payers money to get this Cllr and failed. Maybe it is time that she respects that he has done nothing wrong,

Is this really how Tax Payers money should be spent? The Chief Executive should not be political in her role and also stop wasting tax payers money. She also should not be political in her role. Maybe if she stopped wasting our money then we can keep a few more front line services.