‘Intimidation’ claim
A CLAIM of ‘intimidation’ has been made against Argyll and Bute Council’s most senior official by the female councillor at the centre of a campaign against sexual harassment.
AN OBAN councillor has accused Argyll and Bute Council’s chief executive of making her feel ‘intimidated, threatened and effectively silenced’, after she spoke out about a culture of low-level sexual harassment at the council.
In an earlier open letter to the council’s leader and chief executive on her online blog called ‘The Edge of the Parapet’, Oban North and Lorn SNP councillor Julie McKenzie raised the issue of sexual harassment within the council as a ‘catalyst’ for ‘open dialogue’, claiming a ‘seismic shift [is] required within the current culture’.
She emphasised she had not and would not pursue any complaints against any elected member in reference to this, stating that her open letter was ‘not designed to be a witch-hunt’.
However, last week, in a second open letter to fellow councillors, Ms McKenzie said she was ‘deeply concerned’ by the ‘content and tone’ of a subsequent telephone call from chief executive Cleland Sneddon and a council officer.
She said: ‘I was given no warning that this was to be a formal call in which I’d be pressurised into invoking disciplinary procedure. I quite clearly stated that I did not want to pursue a complaints process. However, my wishes were completely disregarded.
‘The call lasted 18 minutes and during this time I felt intimidated, threatened and effectively silenced.
‘Had I known this was going to be the route taken by our most senior officials, I would have absolutely not have taken this call alone.
‘The chief executive was quite clear in his disapproval of my use of open letter and social media. I should have taken this to him quietly or given him a heads up about what I was about to do.
‘I find it incredibly ironic that I found myself having to explain to the most senior male in our council why I, as a female councillor, would have felt incredibly uncomfortable having quiet conversations with male officers, or indeed male councillors about this issue.’
She claimed the approach and lack of empathy shown by the council’s most senior male officers was ‘symptomatic of the whole culture within the council that I wish to see change’. She added: ‘If I do as I’m told and pursue the complaints process as instructed, I have no doubt of the outcome. A number of complaints against elected members will be investigated internally, behind closed doors, by the book and it will become a case of my word against a collective of male administration councillors and ex-councillors. They will close ranks against me.
‘How can I be so sure? Because recently I took forward a complaint internally about the behaviour of a male councillor and it was investigated. The outcome was that the councillor involved wrote to me saying he was “sorry that I took any offence” at his behaviour. Instead of apologising for the fact that he’d made me feel intimidated, he put the onus for how his behaviour affected me, directly onto me!’
Councillor McKenzie welcomed council leader Aileen Morton’s response to her original letter, in which she said stated: ‘We need men to step up and take ownership of these issues; it’s not acceptable to put the burden for solutions on women.’ Councillor Morton added that ‘harassment is totally unacceptable’.
Councillor McKenzie added: ‘I steadfastly refuse to be pressganged into making complaints so that attention is turned on me rather than focused on the bigger picture. I also refuse to be threatened, bullied or silenced on this issue. I hope this is a line-in-the-sand time for all of us. We have a choice. We can take the usual bunker-style defensive approach or we can be brave and bold; positioning ourselves at the forefront of this issue in order to seek ground-breaking ways to address it. I appeal to all of you to support me in calling for a review of Argyll and Bute Council policy and procedure on sexual harassment in the workplace as a matter of urgency.’
Argyll and Bute Council said: ‘We commend Councillor McKenzie for raising the issue. Argyll and Bute Council has a zero tolerance approach to this kind of behaviour. If a concern is raised, the priority of the chief executive and council as a whole is to take action to address it fully in order to put an end to it. Given public focus on this situation, actions taken have included issuing reminders to all councillors and staff of options and support for ending harassment.’