There is a strict code of conduct for councillors working at Croydon Town Hall. Mike Fisher might want to read it
It looks like Mike Fisher was forced to back-track on Sunday, as a complaint from a community group in north London prompted him to send a better-considered response to their email.
Inside Croydon reported how the leader of Croydon Council had responded testily to an email from the Harrow Council for Justice, his one-line response describing the mail as “rubbish”.
Now Fisher, a Conservative councillor for Shirley, has sent a second mail to the secretary of HCJ, Pravin Shah. Fisher even went to the trouble of writing it on Sunday.
We reproduce Fisher’s email, sent from his official, Croydon Council email account, here:
Dear Dr Shah
Thank you for your e mail.
Whilst the four stated positions of your organisation (set out at the top of your e mail) are ones that I concur with, it is very clear to me that your e mails are blatantly political and include a great deal of personal attack on individuals.
I do not wish to have any more sent to me and it is my right to request that you do not send any more to me. I also believe that I am entitled to a view as to the contents of your unsolicited e mails and as a Council for Justice, as you claim to be, you will no doubt recognise my right to express a view.
I would appreciate it if you would remove my name from your circulation list forthwith.
Yours sincerely
Mike Fisher
This has not satisfied Shah, however, who is insisting on a formal apology for Fisher’s previous, ill-considered response. “Councillors’ behaviour and how they express their views are governed by the Councillors’ Code of Conduct,” Shah said.
And while Fisher’s initial offence may not be among the worst things he has done since being in charge of the ruling Conservative group on Croydon Council, his behaviour in this instance is indicative of the evident contempt which he and many of his senior colleagues seem to have for “mere” Council Tax-payers, whether in this borough or elsewhere in London.
You might even characterise the email exchange as Fisher’s “pleb” moment.
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Rubbish
Mike Fisher has every right to express his view.
He’s entirely entitled to a point of view, Patrick. But the day that he stood for election, Fisher also took on wider responsibilities towards the public of Croydon, and beyond.
The council’s Code of Conduct, to which Fisher is a signatory, demands that he conducts himself in a respectful manner, and that he treats the public with respect.
Had he gone to the trouble of drafting his second email as his first response, it’s doubtful that anyone would have cause for complaint.
But his first response, ill-considered and sent in haste, reflects his true attitude towards ordinary residents and may come to haunt him in the same manner that Gordon Brown’s “bigoted woman” remark came to do.
Doesnt he have a spam filter?
Surely the entire point of email is you dont HAVE to reply?