“Councillor’s concern over being asked to “account for his action”

A COUNCILLOR has expressed his concern over a letter he received from Frodsham Foundation following his nomination by the Town Council to become a director of the Foundation.
Cllr Mike Pusey – a former Mayor of Frodsham – told the monthly meeting of the council that he had understood that when he was nominated by the council his appointment as a director would be automatic.
Instead, he received a letter from the Foundation asking him to “account for his actions.”
He was not sure who had written the letter, but he was satisfied it was not any of the three Town Council members who were also directors of the foundation – Cllr Sara Wakefield, Cllr Andrew Dawson and Cllr Lynn Riley.
It was dated May 9 but he did not receive it until May 13 and he was expected to respond to it by May 14 – an impossible time-scale.
Cllr Pusey said he could understand Frodsham Foundation “pulling him up” for something he said as a director of the Foundation. But he did not see how they could complain about anything he said when he was not a director.
He was not sure what action he should take following receipt of the letter but he wondered if he should volunteer to attend a Foundation meeting to discuss with the directors any issues they had about him becoming a director.
Chairman Cllr Mark Warren said Cllr Pusey was still the council’s nomination to become a director of the Foundation. He believed his suggestion of seeking a meeting with the directors was a good one.
Cllr Dawson said he supported Cllr Pusey’s nomination. He understood a number of new directors had been introduced and was very much in favour of there being more directors. He wanted Cllr Pusey to be one of them and felt the time-scale imposed on him to respond to the letter was unfair.
The council agreed that Cllr Pusey should seek a meeting with the Foundation directors.
• Last month, Cllr Pusey told the council his problem with the Foundation was that it was difficult to find out anything about its accounts and that he was surprised it had only 34 members when, under its constitution, any resident could apply to become one.