A former Fife councillor became aggressive towards a community council member as an argument about grass-cutting led to “unruly” exchanges.
Linda Holt was found to have behaved in a disparaging and dismissive manner towards the secretary of St Monans Community Council during a “chaotic and noisy” meeting in August 2021.
The Standards Commission ruled her “inappropriate and unacceptable” behaviour breached the councillor’s code of conduct.
And the watchdog has now censured Ms Holt by making a formal record of its disapproval.
The issue erupted as Fife Council introduced its controversial rewilding policy, which left grass to grow long in many areas.
This caused anger among some St Monans residents and has since resulted in accusations of lying, witch hunts and threats.
Ms Holt was a councillor for East Neuk and Landward from 2017 until 2022.
She did not attend the Standards Commission hearing on July 11.
However, she said she wholeheartedly rejected its findings.
Accused community council member of lying
The panel heard a member of the public issued a call for action on Facebook in the summer of 2021, claiming the council’s rewilding policy was hazardous.
And he invited locals to join him with lawnmowers, strimmers and rakes so they could cut the grass themselves.
However, the community council secretary rejected Ms Holt’s suggestion that the man should be invited to a meeting with Fife Council officers to discuss the issue.
The panel heard the secretary then sent an email saying the person concerned did not represent the community and accused him of “stirring up residents”.
Ms Holt disagreed and repeatedly brought it up at the community council meeting, ignoring requests to stop.
The panel heard she accused the community council member of lying about the contents of the email.
And she was accused of shouting over him as he tried to respond.
No remorse following ‘unruly’ meeting
The Standards Commission was told the situation became unruly and “almost out of control”.
And the acting chair had to stop the whole meeting and ban the issue from being discussed in public again.
The following month’s meeting was recorded as a result, with the acting chair calling it “a very unpleasant affair”.
Anne-Marie O’Hara, chair of the Standards Commission hearing panel, said there was no reason why Linda Holt could not have raised her concerns “in a respectful and courteous manner without resorting to aggression and shouting”.
She added: “The panel would emphasise the importance of the requirement for councillors to behave respectfully at all times in order to ensure public confidence in the role of an elected member and the council itself is not undermined.”
The panel noted Ms Holt had not expressed any remorse over her behaviour.
She also failed to recognise it might be inappropriate for a councillor to publicly and repeatedly comment on someone’s conduct.
Linda Holt claims Standards Commission charges follow ‘witch-hunt’
Linda Holt told The Courier she refused to engage with the Standards Commission as she considered the complaints malicious.
She said: “I wholeheartedly reject the commission’s findings, which are entirely one-sided.
“The charges against me were the result of a concerted witch-hunt in response to my calling out the secretary of St Monans Community Council for lying in public.
“In the extremely unruly meeting that followed, I was heckled, attacked and threatened because I refused to apologise for calling out the secretary’s behaviour.”
A spokesperson for St Monans Community Council said the secretary resigned from the committee a year ago and they wished him well.
She added: “Former councillor Linda Holt has not been involved in our monthly meetings for more than a year either.
“And we wish her well for the future too.”
