Fury at 'laughable' council's missing chairman

Maltby Town Council’s chairman Cllr Karen Usher has caused a stir among fellow members who say that she has let the town down by not attending a single council meeting since September.

Since then, vice-chairman Ben Slade, who was previously suspended from the council, has being chairing meetings.

There has been no apology from Cllr Usher for her absence, a sore point among fellow town councillors.

Independent member John Kirk said that the situation was an embarrassment.

“She has absolutely let the people of Maltby down, let the council down and let herself down,” he said.

“It’s disgusting and the people of Maltby have every right to be annoyed.

“It makes us look like a laughing stock because she was put into the position of leading the council and she isn’t doing it.”

Labour councillor Carol Stringer shared Cllr Kirk’s concerns and highlighted divisions in the council.

“If we had all 18 councillors working together we could get so much done,” she said,

Cllr Stringer insisted that Cllr Usher has not contributed to discussions at meetings she had attended.

“I think this was just a crafty way of getting Cllr Slade back into the chair.

“But this is nothing less than we expected when she took over.

“When the chairman doesn’t turn up for meetings, it doesn’t look particularly good at all and causes numerous problems.”

It was disrespectful to the council, she added.

According to council’s rules, Cllr Usher will lose her position of chairman if she does not attend a meeting within six months.

Cllr Ben Slade said that he did not know why she had not attended but maintained that the council was going ahead as usual.

“I know she was ill in December but I really don’t know why she hasn’t been since September,” he said.

“As vice-chairman I have been chairing the meetings in her absence, but can’t comment any further.”

Despite several attempts to contact her, Cllr Usher was unavailable for comment.