The fall-out from Jo Negrini’s time in charge of the council could have a lasting impact, as a senior council figure breaks their silence about their ‘out of control’ former boss
Some staff working at Fisher’s Folly have been celebrating the departure of Negrini
In a withering attack on the departing chief executive, a senior council official has described Jo Negrini as “autocratic”, saying she was out of the control of the borough’s elected representatives.
They accuse her of being “disorganised” and “an indolent charlatan”.
Negrini, they said, “took some toe-curlingly bizarre decisions that would make you want to weep”.
“I am celebrating the departure of the autocratic Jo Negrini,” the long-serving council official has told friends, asking not to be identified.
“The woman was a bully who frightened the hell out of ordinary councillors. Her regime was out of control. She brought in people she liked, not based on competence. She disregarded councillors and had no respect for them. She wallowed in her own importance and greatness.”
The council worker is a member of a trades union, and is concerned that the council’s Labour-run administration, under council leader Tony Newman, is taking the blame for many decisions which were, in fact, attributable to Negrini, who they characterise as being “out of control”.
Unions at the Town Hall have become increasingly concerned at the attitudes towards black and minority ethnic – BAME – employees during Negrini’s time in charge.
“She did not care for the Labour Party and never shared Labour Party principles or ideologies,” the source said, “otherwise we would not have seen such decimation of all equality and diversity policy in the council.
Jo Negrini: An ‘indolent charlatan’ who ‘wallowed in her own importance’
“Huge numbers of people who have been charged with disciplinary offences have been BAME, especially black women.”
Negrini was, according to the council official, “on a tangent of her own”.
“Her council took some toe-curlingly bizarre decisions that would make you want to weep.
“She was was on her way destroying the Labour Party in Croydon. And yet the leadership in the Town Hall just let her be.
“She has caused a lot of damage to Croydon in general and Labour in particular. It was her arrogance that allowed Brick by Brick was allowed to ignore local community concerns in their consultation processes.
“The people of Croydon have a right to know the truth, which is that Labour-run councils have borne the brunt of local government cuts over a decade of austerity. On average, Labour councils saw their spending power reduced by 34 per cent, while the average Conservative council suffered an equivalent decline of less than a quarter, 24 per cent.
“Croydon Council has been among the worst sufferers. All these cuts have been building up and has led to the current cash crisis.”
Read more: £400,000 ‘golden handshake’ is Negrini’s reward for failure
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