Are your Zoom meetings ever like this? Parish Council meeting descends into chaos

[chomalungma]

There is some awful behaviour on here.

It breaks down badly at 4 minutes.

Poor Sue was left as the only reasonable one at the January meeting. Where were Can, Mr Moore, Mr Smith,and Julie's iPad? I wonder if they deliberately arranged the meeting at a time they couldn't make, or "forgot" to tell them about the meeting.

I'm a parish councilor and the only woman on the council and the youngest (I'm mid 50's) I'd love to have more women and younger people on the council but we never get candidates that fit this profile. It's very hard to fill the places so there are never elections - everyone who wants to be a parish councilor gets co-opted in. We have a brilliant clerk and meetings are quite genteel with silences punctuated by the sound of the clock in the village hall (normally).
However, I sometimes feel I'm ignored and I make a sensible comment which is ignored but then one of the men repeats it 5 mins later and everyone agrees what a great idea it is. I'm not the kind of person to let this go so I do point out that I just said that myself.
We are all reasonable people although we don't all agree on everything we have a sensible discussion. Don't let Handforth put you off if you are interested in joining the council. I would suggest you 'attend' a meeting or two as a member of the public to see what the council is like - maybe they are all nice like us!

I'm not the kind of person to let this go so I do point out that I just said that myself

I am very glad you do! That would sooooo annoy me!

spababe
Hopefully - if the Govt see sense - remote and hybrid meetings will continue after May
which will allow people with children and other commitments to become councillors
as arranging childcare to cover a meeting is a PITA
but logging in on a laptop with headphones
while kids are doing homework
is feasible

I know that many Clerks are loving not having to drive to a cold church hall in the middle of the evening
AND
being able to share to screen saves LOADS of paper

Go Shaan Ali- the 17 year old politics student from east London who discovered this and shared it with the world!

www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-55955288

Parody song out! twitter.com/bigdirtyfry/status/1357795978846339079?s=24

I’m astonished but not surprised at those who claim that Jackie is the one in the wrong in all of this.

Some are calling her the UK’s answer to Carol Baskin. I don’t think they see the irony in the fact that both women are being painted as the villain rather the man/men who actually are.

@spababe

I'm a parish councilor and the only woman on the council and the youngest (I'm mid 50's) I'd love to have more women and younger people on the council but we never get candidates that fit this profile. It's very hard to fill the places so there are never elections - everyone who wants to be a parish councilor gets co-opted in. We have a brilliant clerk and meetings are quite genteel with silences punctuated by the sound of the clock in the village hall (normally). However, I sometimes feel I'm ignored and I make a sensible comment which is ignored but then one of the men repeats it 5 mins later and everyone agrees what a great idea it is. I'm not the kind of person to let this go so I do point out that I just said that myself. We are all reasonable people although we don't all agree on everything we have a sensible discussion. Don't let Handforth put you off if you are interested in joining the council. I would suggest you 'attend' a meeting or two as a member of the public to see what the council is like - maybe they are all nice like us!

An infuriating event which is unfortunately endemic. Did you know that research suggests that men perceive women to be dominating events if they are far fewer than 50% of the group or speak less than 50% of the time?

As a Parish Clerk yes... this does happen. Sometimes I feel battered after my monthly meetings.

As a Handforth resident, I feel pretty annoyed about the bad publicity these bully-boys have brought to the village. Lots of local groups and businesses have done amazing things to help others during lockdown in spite of the Chair and his cronies (who incidentally haven’t been seen around the village for several days!!) I love Jackie though - what a strong, dignified lady!

@myblackboots

As a Handforth resident, I feel pretty annoyed about the bad publicity these bully-boys have brought to the village. Lots of local groups and businesses have done amazing things to help others during lockdown in spite of the Chair and his cronies (who incidentally haven’t been seen around the village for several days!!) I love Jackie though - what a strong, dignified lady!

Are they known for being misogynistic bullies locally or did that get swept under the carpet? I am glad that Jackie is getting some support.

@myblackboots

As a Handforth resident, I feel pretty annoyed about the bad publicity these bully-boys have brought to the village. Lots of local groups and businesses have done amazing things to help others during lockdown in spite of the Chair and his cronies (who incidentally haven’t been seen around the village for several days!!) I love Jackie though - what a strong, dignified lady!

Your neighbours elected them www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/voting_and_elections/elections/parish-council-election-2019/gawsworth-to-hurleston/handforth-south.aspx with a 42% turnout www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/voting_and_elections/elections/parish-council-election-2019/gawsworth-to-hurleston/handforth-west.aspx with a 24% turnout

In May your community has the chance to change things
Take it.

You just know these people are not working proper jobs anymore

I wonder if any of them will stand down now. 🤷‍♀️

@JMAngel1

What is the purpose of this meeting and this parish council? What do they actually do? Other than argue about the correct procedure to conduct the meeting. The whole exercise seems utterly pointless and just full of retirees who still want to cling onto some deluded version of authority. Please tell me they don't get paid. I found something very sinister about the people in Aled's IPad stream.

I suppose the main thing the parish council I worked for did was manage the allotments i.e. collecting rents, setting up tenancies. They also looked after the local bus shelter and bench i.e. did repairs if there was damage, painted them periodically etc. They were also responsible for the small park/play area/play equipment. They would also have planning meetings and their decisions would be passed to the district council. They would also arrange celebrations, royal weddings and the like and would generally supply something like a commemorative mug for the local children.

Lots of it is very worthwhile on a local level but it seems to bring out the worst in some people. I would say the youngest councillor was probably 50ish and the average age would have been over 60, it was probably 80% male 20% female, we did actually get more women at one time but unfortunately couldn't hang on to them.

It's good to hear fro a Handforth resident on here but who the hell elects these wankers.
I know the choice pool will be small but still...

@grassisjeweled

You just know these people are not working proper jobs anymore

Depressingly I can HIGHLY recommend the Daily Mail article.

It accurately lists the different roles and responsibilities
covers the history
provides a transcript
AND
explains the day jobs of each of the elected councillors

It's hilarious and Jackie is an overnight sensation . What an awful man who clearly disrespects women . Handforth is 7 mins away from me :)

@Knitwit99

I would love to be a fly on the wall in some of their houses tonight. Are they getting a bollocking from their families for their disgraceful behaviour or are they all sitting round the dinner table together bemoaning how the world has misunderstood them and deliberately portrayed them in a bad light when really they are the only ones keeping the village in line and i fit wasn't for them.....

I imagine their wives and children are already fully aware that they were bullies, and would probably be too ground down to bollock them.

Did you not hear how Aled Brewerton spoke to the woman off camera (who I assume is his mother, and the wife of the man he's sat next to)? Called her an 'old fool' in a vicious voice. Really nasty.

Poor women who live with men like this.

Fantabulous

Maybe I’m boring but I just can’t see the funny side of this. Angry, abusive men shouting down and patronising a woman. Jackie is made of strong stuff but how appalling that those men felt entitled to behave in such a way.

@ReceptacleForTheRespectable

Was Brewerton the one whispering angrily off camera like Gollum? It didn’t dawn on me that he could be talking to anyone physically present in his house. He seemed so awful I thought both he and laughing hyena guy must be both people with no friends or spouses who got together at his for the meeting.

@ListeningQuietly The details of election results you posted are for the Handforth wards of East Cheshire council, I think, not the parish council. There is an overlap in elected membership though.

I saw the video & it almost reminded me of the Vicar of Dibley parish meetings.