Bad management?

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Pimento

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Bad management?
« on: July 06, 2021, 19:53 »
Hi all,

Admins - please move this if it’s in the wrong place, but it’s very much allotment-related and I wasn’t sure where to put it. Could really do with some advice!

I’ve had a plot for many years on a very happy and well-run site, which is owned by the local council but self-managed. Unfortunately changes to the committee in the last couple of months mean things have now changed completely.

The committee is now run by two very new and frankly power-crazed people, who ride roughshod over the rest of the commitee (mainly elderly), changing rules and policies on a whim without consulting anyone but each other.

As a result I can feel the place falling apart. They’ve upset so many people, and our happy, informal but united site is splitting into exasperated, miserable factions.

Is there any way of pulling up or getting rid of individuals who simply refuse to acknowledge basic democratic rules? In a self-managed situation, can the local authority step in and force them to comply?

At the moment, this pair’s reaction to anyone who tries to question them is to block them from discussion and then threaten to evict them.

I know some of you must have found yourselves in similar situations before - please can anyone give any advice?

Thanks in advance.

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snowdrops

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Re: Bad management?
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2021, 22:01 »
No experience of this but my advice would be to document everything & even record any conversations if you have any with them & encourage anyone else to do the same. Contact the council & discuss your concerns & get everyone else to do the same. Organise a vote of no confidence in the committee?
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Yorkie

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Re: Bad management?
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2021, 22:04 »
I do not have personal experience of this, but I am aware of situations where the council has been willing to step back in temporarily to help the situation - but that was in time gone by when the council had more staff.

Each year there will have to be an election for the committee, so one strand of your approach should be to assess whether there will be anyone willing to stand against this couple at the next AGM, and sufficient people to vote for those new candidates.

You may be able to call an EGM if there is sufficient support in the meantime, to get them off.

The constitution of the committee shouldn't be able to be changed without AGM member approval.

If there is any evidence of discrimination in how the couple are making decisions, then the council has a duty to ensure that its services are not being carried out (i.e. the administration of the allotment service) in a way which breaches the public sector equality duty.

My sympathies.

PS agree with everything snowdrops typed faster than I did!
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Pimento

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Re: Bad management?
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2021, 22:25 »
Thank you both very much! All good advice. This pair shouldn’t currently be making any decisions at all - let alone on their own - as their appointments haven’t been ratified at the AGM yet. But they have no regard for the process at all. They’ve already evicted one person, giving no reason, who dared to question them, and I’m feeling quite vulnerable now having raised my head about the parapet.

I Googled and found a very interesting old thread from this site about the lack of proections or right of appeal for people who find themselves in this situation - so much for devolved democracy, eh?

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Pimento

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Re: Bad management?
« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2021, 22:30 »
Forgot to add - I know for a fact this pair are picking and choosing from the waiting list instead of working from the top down, but whether that could be construed as discriminatory, I don’t know.

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al78

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Re: Bad management?
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2021, 11:39 »
Who ultimately has authority over the committee? Is there a democratic process for electing people onto senior positions on the committee? There has to be a way of evicting people who behave unreasonably from the committee, otherwise any power crazed narcissist could just walk in and take over.

If there is no higher authority you can get on your side, the only other way I can see is by people power. If you can get enough of the tenants on your side and make a formal protest, that may ultimately get rid of them. You can't fight against a hundred other people no matter how power-crazed you are.

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Pimento

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Re: Bad management?
« Reply #6 on: July 07, 2021, 11:49 »
Thank you for that- our rents go to the local council which owns the site, and although I can consult them I’m not sure to what degree they can or would - in current stretched circumstances - step in to help.

There is definitely mounting dissatisfaction on the site though - the Pol Pot characters have managed to upset an awful lot of people in a very short period of time. Our main problem is that even if they followed proper procedures, there is probably no one to replace them at the AGM. People have been so put off by the nastiness they simply don’t want to get involved. :( 

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mrs bouquet

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Re: Bad management?
« Reply #7 on: July 07, 2021, 13:23 »
Who elected this couple onto the committee in the first place .   Were they the only people who were willing to stand.Often it is the case that people don't want to partake in a responsiblity but will complain and grumble amongst themselves about the incomers.  Have they always been on your allotments.  Or were they unknown.   How did the situation come about in the first place, and if they are removed who will be willing to represent and support others in a committee position.  All things to consider, what a horrible situation.  You have my sympathy.   regards,  Mrs Bouquet
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Pimento

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Re: Bad management?
« Reply #8 on: July 07, 2021, 13:30 »
Hi Mrs B,

Thanks for your sympathy. No, this pair haven't been elected as we haven't yet had our AGM - they were  brought in by the chair (who, I must say, doesn't get involved much but is equally bad when they do).

They're both very new to their plots and have only been inn position for a couple of months. The difficulty is that, as I wrote above, things have become so nasty and depressing that no one wants to get involved, so it's unlikely anyone will stand against them. I would, but as some of the other committee members play very little part I'd probably still be outnumbered by the three of them.

Making it formal and hoping the council will act is perhaps the only way forward, I think....

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mrs bouquet

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Re: Bad management?
« Reply #9 on: July 07, 2021, 13:40 »
Oh gosh,  Does the "Chair" know about this situation.  Or are they all mates.   They definitely need the boot, and putting in their place.   But how to go about it.  Good Luck,  regards,  Mrs B    PS:  A thought occurs to me, do you actually need a committee ?

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hasbeans

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Re: Bad management?
« Reply #10 on: July 07, 2021, 15:18 »
Would the evicted party be prepared to approach the council or even the local press with their story of unconstitutional eviction and bullying?  They have the least to lose and most to gain (if they want to return).

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jmc1949

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Re: Bad management?
« Reply #11 on: July 07, 2021, 16:45 »
If this couple haven't been formally elected should they be taking charge yet. Has anyone gently asked them why they don't think the allotments were run correctly and why they feel they need to change things. Should the local council be ok'ing these changes.

Last year I was on the receiving end of a vendetta. I had been chairman and then secretary for about 8 years. Due to family ill health I relinquished the secretary post and reverted back to chairman as no one else wanted to do it. Unfortunately, the new secretary was getting things wrong and I approached him. An argument ensued and he resigned. This was just as Covid lockdown started so not be able to go to allotments I tried to run the place from home via emails, most of which were ignored by the committee and I was left to take decisions alone. While I was away the person who resigned conducted a vendetta and along with another person I was cyber bullied, accused of impersonating an RSPC Officer, I could go on.  I too was called a power crazed narcissist for trying to run the allotments to be best of my ability from the terms and conditions and with little input from committee or allotmenteers.
They obviously feel things need to change, rightly or wrongly. Please don't let it get to the situation I found myself in last year.  Sorry for the long story, it now worries me when I hear what goes on on allotments

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Pimento

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Re: Bad management?
« Reply #12 on: July 07, 2021, 17:21 »
Hi all, thanks very much for the input.

Firstly the chair is very much part of the mismanagement - a total bully who rides roughshod over proper process. The person already evicted has already made a formal complaint to the council and is awaiting the outcome.

As a self-managed site, we really do need a committee  as the council are merely landlords who take the rent.

JMC, I’m really sorry you had such an awful time. Allotments can really lay bare how nasty and petty people can be. Which is why you need to follow process, of course. In this case, the people who’ve hi-jacked the committee are making decisions without telling other committee members, let alone voting at meetings. They’re giving plots to their friends over people on the waiting list and have even asked one of their friends who has no plot to join the committee. They’re not even really gardeners - just people clearly enjoying the rush of power to their head, and making life miserable for everyone else in the process.

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jmc1949

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Re: Bad management?
« Reply #13 on: July 07, 2021, 17:36 »
Hi Pimento,

I hope everything turns out ok for you and your fellow allotment holders. You are right allotments can show how petty and vindictive people can be. Even a member of the new committee admitted to me that the ex committee member had indeed conducted a vendetta against me, unfortunately they allowed him to stay, so I left.

Good luck

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Pimento

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Re: Bad management?
« Reply #14 on: July 07, 2021, 18:09 »
Thank you so much, JMC, and I’m really sorry you had to leave. There should be more in place to help support and protect people in these situations.


 

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