OUSTING A TOWN CLERK

NZ Truth, Issue 1208, 24 January 1929, Page 5

OUSTING A TOWN CLERK

Under Threat of Dismissal, The Officer Resigned NO REASON GIVEr^TOR DRASTIC STEP

What Is The "Something Serious" Hinted At by Timaru's Mayor ?

ON November 5 last there was a special meeting of the Council,

from Which . Mr. ■ Machattie was asked to absent himself. Later he was interviewed by the Mayor, G. J. Wallace, and P. B. Foote, chairman of the Finance Committee, and asked to hand m his resignation, xindor dismissal. From that day the Town Clerk has been vainly pleading for enlightenment as to why 'such drastic treatment Should be meted out to, him. The Council have accepted his resignation which takes effect oh February 1, from which date he has been given three months' leave of absence on full pay, and are considering which of six men they will select to fill the vacancy. What makes the action of the Counoil. more difficult to understand is the fact that they have given Mr. Machattie a testimonial under seal. If all the cards were put on the table the matter would be cleared up and the mind of the public put at rest. From first to last the business transacted by the Council rol/itive to the dismissal of the Tdwn Clerk has beon of a socrelivo nature and not until asked point blnnk by Mr. Machattie did the Council come out into the open, This was nt a meeting over a week ago. When the following letter was addressClerk's Letter ed to the Muybi' and councillors by the Town Clerk: — "Gentlemen,— Having tendered my application for the position of Town Clerk m response to the Council's ad- ! vertisement, I respectfully express the hope that it will be favorably received Und that there will be no break m tho nohtihuUy of my work- for the Borough of Tihiaru. "That my resignation was forced upon mo liy the Council is now an open seci;et. but it 1s not generally known rhat the Council fit the eomniencement Tf the special meeting held on Novem* ber 5, 1928. requested me to absent myself during Its proceedings and that later m the same evening His Worship •'He Mnyor And rhnirman of the Finance Committee -interviewed me 'and. .re* •juested. from me my resignation under nennlty of dismissal, and without so much as one word of • satisfactory explanation and claiming to justify the Council's -rdqijeist/by the terms of my ugroemont. which provides f dr. three months' notice on either side. "To this day I know no more tn"an 'he man oh the street why my "resignation was. insisted unnn. nor Ivwe I ever been permitted to interview the Council m the matter except on the following Monday evening m committee, when, m resnqil?e to my enmp'-t reo'iest for j no ■■ satisfactory explanation was afforded me. "At the, same m'eetingi. however, i." r ••••■•'■■■ ■■•■ j ■ 'Trivial Complaints " His Worship the Mayor assured me that no councillor had any charge whatsoever aqftlnst me, and on the motion of the chairman of the Finance Committee the Council .unanimously approved of giving me a testimonial under its seal. "Consequently the public, knowing lotting more, are left guessing as to •vhat particular iniquity I may have jomniitted and, as I have learnod with ■e|jret, the impression has got abroad that my resignation was due to some .rregularity dn my part and that the Council dealt with the matter m com.nittee so as to conceal my defaults. "Under the circumstances I feel it necessary to record the fact that no specific chn: ge of any kind has been made against mo <by the Cauncfl and that on the contrary I have been ins'ormed more than once that no charge existed. In spite of my earnest request to the Council' l have riot been able to leai'n of any duty m Ayhlch I have sup- i posed to have failed, or of any wrong thing I ani alleged to have done. "Not even the unsatisfactory or vagiie charge of incompetency has been i levelled against me. Indeed, such a charge would be hard to reconcile with the Council's recent eulogies of my services and subsequently recorded decision to grant me a testimonial under j Its seal. '

(From "N. Z. Truth V' Timaru Representative.)

There is a civic mystery at Timaru. The Town Clerk can with much feeling echo the words of Cassius, "I have lost my occupation/ but, unlike that unhappy ex-henchman of Othello > he cannot, according to his version of the matter, assign' any reason for it. Virtually he was dismissed, and no why or whereby was given him.. Later at a irteeting of the Borough Council, the only attempt to enlighten puzzled ratepayers regarding the cause of the clerk's "resignation" was embodied m the Mayor's remark that the officer was not fitted for the position. The Council, however, gave him a testimonial!

"As far as I can judge the Council acted on a number of trivial ■ complaints made against me as Town Clerk, and a decision was arrived at by the Council m committee without acquainting me of the complaints and according me the privilege and the right of refuting them. . "As the Gouhcil has my present' application under consideration I think it [ wouid be fair and just to me that i [should have the opportunity of replyi ing 'to any expressed dissatisfaction ' of my ■ services or charges which might have been made against me : and which may have exercised or may yet exercise some influence on the minds of the members of the Council; and since t have ho wish for concealment of any alleged charge, and as I am already: suffering from the concealment that [has taken place, I now respectfully and definitely request that whatever charges (if any) which the Council has against me, they .be made m open Council and not In committee. ; "If the Council will act as suggested each of • the councillors will then be m a position to deal with my application IIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIirilllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIi;illlUI!ll

«uimmmmmummmmmmmlmmmmmimmmmmiinimimimiiiiimiimii with a fuller knowledge of the facts than they have hitherto possessed, and m view of my services during the past two and a-half years and on which it is not for me to dwell, but which have been praised m open Council, I shall look forward to the final decision with some degree of confidence."

Throughout the strange proceedings the voice of one man, Councillor J. Hutchison, was heard vainly striving

against the tumult of the voices of those judges who, without hearing the defence, found tho accused guilty, and sentenced him to dismissal. ; Neither for of against the accused did Councillor Hutchison plead. He only asked that the sacred name of English justice be not set at naught. He urged that Machattie be given the hearing he was entitled to; that he be made acquainted with the charges brought against him; and that he be given an op- • portiinity of defending himself. But Hutchison's pleadings fell on deaf ears, and soon a respected citizen of Tihiaru, with wife and family depending on' him; will have lost the position to which, by hard and conscientious work, he had raised himself. AheateH discussion ; prose when the letter came before the Council, and Only after a lot of breath had been wasted m side-tracking, on the part of different members, was it finally decided to deal with the letter; but only m cbh junction with' the report of a special committee which had been, set up to select six names from the 179 i applicants seeking the position.

Councillor A. Kennedy made some pointed remarks. "It has come to my knowledge," he said, "that certain councillors who Influenced me to vote for the resignation of the Town 'Clerk have since been going round the town expressing sorrow that the Council had let the Town Clerk go. "The position has gone so far now, that I consider that certain councillors,

who are trying: to put the blame ion to other shoujders, should state what reasons they have for asking the • Town Clerk to fesign. They have been asked to come out into the open so there is ho need , to play hide-and-seek." The Mayor said that a discussion oh those lines was out of order. A notice of motion would have to.be given if they wanted to discuss the resignation of the Town Clerk-. The letter befo,re them dealt with his application for the position. • Councillor Kennedy claimed that Machattle's letter asked the Council to bring forward their charges against him, and they should do so. "I am , asking you to tell the „ I whoJe world the nature of the charges you have to make against me," said Machattie. | Councillor' Hawkey: I wiirmbve'that a special meeting of the Council be calle.d to formulate the charges against Mr. Machattie, .who- should be given time to consider them before making a reply. . Coiihp.tllor-Hutchison: As I have. said from the begrlnhing, it is.only giyingr the I man a rshkhca and playing the game. The : Town Clerk: I might say that

Unconstitutional

Councillor.^ ■vjinneli told me that the deputation was' : not authorized to ask for. my resignation. '. Councillor P, C. Vinnell: : I told you that the deputation did not have my authority to ask* for your resignation. I would have asked you for ydUf resignation without granting you three months' pay. >; , After a little further discussion the Town Clerk astounded the Council by stating that the special meeting which had resulted m his dismissal was unconstitutional. The meeting had been called on the voices, and there was no record oh the books.' V. Councillor A. L. 'Gee 'stated that it should have been the duty of the Town Clerk to state that the meeting out of order. He should have refused to resign. „ „.-.-.-. Machattie: My resignation was demanded under pressure. I have produced only half the statements made by the ( deputation. I did not notice until last week that there was no resolution on the books calling the special meeting. , Councillor Kennedy" asked if it' had ever beery.stated m the books that tne resignation of the Town Clerk was Under consideration. ■■'■!" Machnttie expinined that the meet-, ing had been called- to consider office administration. . I

The Mayor heatedly declared that it

Maypr'sTfar^

■was not safe for the Council to "have an officer who.; was so grossly ignorarlt of the' Council's business routine. If j the whole thing was out of order thfc Town Clerk deserved! a vote of censure. Machattie: Councillor Hawkey tried to tell you. that the meeting was but- of order, but you overruled him. How can you hold your T.'own Clerk responsible when you call'v a: : meeting to dis- J cuss something' th'Ut. is not m existence? >.: v'v : I'here was more Argument, and the Mayor threatened to resign: "Something very serious is hap- . pening m this Borough," he. said, "and I ref use to carry the responsibility if this . matter is not done away with." : Councillor T. W. Satterthwaite urged the Maypr not to take such a step. . The Mayor said that. if .a..reasdn was wanted for Machattie^ dismissal it was because he WaS riot fitted for the i position. That -^houid .b© reason ! enough; for any man. ■ " ■ A sti'ange statement to make m view of the fact that .^he Council gave Machattie a testimonial. And so the public, is still m ignorance of any specific, charge against the Town Clerk. The question is being asked: Why are the Council making a secret of the offence of which they have adjudged him guilty? '•.