Peel Town Commissioners have issued a strongly worded rebuke following a series of social media comments made by board member Katryna Baptist.
The authority said her comments are “inaccurate and do not reflect the views of the Board”.
Mrs Baptists raised concerns about governance, transparency and accountability within the town’s local authority.
In a statement released on Monday, the board accused Mrs Baptist of attempting to “air issues that she perceives she has, through means other than those available to her and her PTC colleagues as elected Members”.
Accountability
The row centres on claims made by Mrs Baptist on Sunday, which include allegations around transparency, accountability and governance.
“As far as the Board is concerned there are no transparency, accountability or governance concerns with respect to the business of PTC,” the statement reads.
The board has defended its procedures, pointing to compliance with the Local Government Act 1985 and its own standing orders. It notes that all meeting minutes are approved by the board and available for inspection, adding that Mrs Baptist has “neither raised nor secured any amendments in accordance with these procedures”.
The statement also addresses a specific claim made by Mrs Baptist regarding an events stage on Peel beach, stating that contrary to her social media post, the matter “was not subject to a vote”.
Mrs Baptist has previously raised concerns about conflicts of interest and alleged breaches of standing orders by staff and fellow members.
The board said that following an investigation into those allegations, “no breach of standing orders was found to have occurred”.
The statement said that at its meeting on March 19, members voted to remove Mrs Baptist from her roles as Event Lead Member and Youth Representative, citing “continual inappropriate disruptive behaviour”.
The board added that complaints from members and officers over Mrs Baptist’s social media post will now be subject to an internal investigation.
A technical issue with the authority’s new website was also acknowledged, with the board stating that minutes will continue to be posted once the matter is resolved.
You can see the full statement below.