Open Letter to Alistair Stewart SDC CEO.

Dear Mr Stewart

Re: Open Letter.

As the CEO of Shepway District Council, the buck ultimately stops with you. You are the Captain at the helm of the good ship Shepway. In this Capacity I would like to ask you, Mr Stewart, some honest, open and frank questions.

In an email between Chris Lewis and Cllr Dearden, of which you received a copy on the 04/03/15 at 11.31am, and read Mr Stewart, regarding Hawkinge Cemetry it states and I quote:

“No Equality Impact Risk Assessment has been delivered and it exposes the Authority to opprobrium in failing to deal with what is an extremely important issue.”

Cllr Dearden goes on to say:

“To not have a Equality Impact Risk Assessment in place was serious but to know that one is not in place and not to have pressed the issue to such a policy timeously is REPREHENSIBLE.”

and

“it was recognised that the policy did not exist” and “acting in a discriminatory way”

You received this email, did you not?. There are 157 soldiers graves in Hawkinge Cemetry, which SDC look after for and on behalf of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. One of them is a DSO and CBE. Is this Mr Stewart how you treat the dead? The dead, who having living relatives here in Shepway? With Armistice day less than one month away and still no vote by full council on the Cemetries Policy, demonstrates you have failed Mr Stewart wouldn’t you agree? The email is clear, why Mr Stewart under your charge did SDC act in a “discriminatory way”? Doesn’t SDC condemn Discrimination? It appears not.

What about Lydd Airport and JUSTICE FOSKETT’s comments regarding our Councillor’s being bought by Zaher Nicola Jeries Deir. Was this ever truly investigated? Justice Foskett states:

“However, there were one or two matters where I found the account concerning such gifts [to Cllrs] difficult to accept, for example, gym memberships, Orlando/New York trips, and I have, accordingly, said to myself that such items have not been shown by Mr Deir to be legitimate expenditure.”

I like Justice Foskett find the position taken is a little too spotless in its connotation to be accepted. And as Mr Deir has not been charged with perjury, it means that what he said must be true.

Folkestone Parks & Pleasure Grounds Charity was going to be passed to Folkestone Town Council, then at the last minute it was pulled. At what cost to the ratepayers Mr Stewart? Could this money not have been better spent?

Why does SDC gag members of staff when they leave? What secrets do you not wish them to tell?

Why Mr Stewart did we pay 186,000 redundancy to Peter Wignall only to hire him back on board until after the election was over. Well it is over, so when will Mr Wignall go?

Why did SDC pay roughly 40,000 redundancy to Sara Smith [PR] only to rehire her after a short while?

Why Mr Stewart in 2011 were proposals to share a chief executive across Dover and Shepway DCs abandoned? How much did this cost from beginning to end? What made you believe you were the right man for the job? What were the perks of the job going to be? Had they been thrashed out? Larger pension, bigger salary?

Mr Stewart, I ask you to resign not because I have a personal grudge against you, but rather your leadership skills have waned significantly. After 11 years at the helm, familiarity has bred contempt and now would be a good time to step down/resign. Hemingway said that you should always write about what you know. Well I know this, that I know a lot lot more Mr Stewart and as CEO of SDC it is time you resigned with immediate effect. The question is,  will you?

PS Will you ask your staff to “purge” this email?