Pembrokeshire councillors clash over blog posts

An online spat has broken out between two representatives of Pembrokeshire County Council, with one labelling the other a ‘Temu Councillor’

The talkative-tiff between Cllr Jacob Williams and currently suspended Cllr Alan Dennison seemingly stems from the latter failing to declare personal and prejudicial interests in relation to a planning application that went before PCC’s planning committee.

Cllr Williams is currently Cabinet Member for Planning and Highways, and represents the ward of East Williamston; while Cllr Dennison represents Milford Haven North.

Back in May, at an extraordinary meeting of Pembrokeshire Council’s standards committee, Cllr Dennison was found to have breached the code of conduct for members, and was suspended from office for a period of four months.

The matter was referred to in Cllr Williams’ online blog in which he mocked Cllr Dennision over the ombudsman rejecting his ‘retaliation’

Cllr Williams wrote: “Disgraced Milford Haven councillor Alan Dennsion has just reported me to the councillor standards watchdog. He humorously claims my part in his recent misconduct proceedings – for which he was slapped with a record four-month suspension from office – was ‘VEXATIOUS!’

“Dennison’s complaint was dead on arrival. The ombudsman threw it out at the first opportunity, choosing not even to investigate it, saying: ‘Evidence has not been provided to substantiate the complaint.’

Cllr Williams has since followed up that blog-post with more musings this month, in where he states that a “desperate Dennison” is trying anything to “remain relevant” during his enforced break, by submitting questions to full council meetings, after learning his efforts to overturn his stiff suspension were “futile”.

“You’ll recall a despairing Dennison made a hopeless report to the ombudsman against me for what he called my “vexatious” part in his downfall,” continued Cllr Williams in his latest online blog.

“I’m reliably informed that, now with extra time on his hands, he’s taken to plastering Facebook with references to me.

“He’s even been seen pleading with strangers to email me photos of weeds and potholes they spot when walking their dogs.

“Out-of-action-Alan is apparently referring to JW online as PCC’s “Temu cabinet member for highways.”

“Sources familiar with the suspended councillor’s state of mind – and the Chinese discount retailer – have suggested Dennison’s oblique Temu reference isn’t intended to be flattering.”

Cllr Dennison has since hit back in a Facebook post, where he states: “A blog is just someone confusing the fact they have an internet connection with the fact that anyone gives a damn!

“Poor old Temu Cllr Jacob Williams. He must be absolutely gutted. Imagine spending months obsessing over someone, conducting what must have been hours of painstaking research, then hammering out a 4,500-word blog about them.

“Four thousand five hundred words! That’s an awful lot of effort to say whatever it was he thought needed saying. Bless him.

“And the response? A magnificent three comments. Yes, THREE!

“What a triumph for our very own bargain-basement journalist. All that research, all that typing, all that self-importance, and an audience that could apparently be counted on the fingers of one hand.”

Cllr Dennison continued to mock the response to Cllr Williams’ latest blog posts, where he states that “mercifully” - he reduced the word count to a mere 1,800.

“Surely this time the comments would come flooding in?” remarked Cllr Dennison.

“And the result? Absolutely bugger all. Not a sausage. Not even a courtesy grunt!

“You almost have to admire the determination. Most people would have taken the hint by now. But not Jacob. No, our aspiring media mogul was apparently determined to squeeze every last drop of attention out of this particular obsession.

“So, out came blog number three. Surely his loyal fan club of three would return to shower him with praise? Surely somebody, somewhere, would feel moved to type a few words?

“Nope. Zilch. Nada. Nil points.”

Cllr Dennison went onto say that by this stage, his fellow county councillor was beginning to resemble the “Spitting Image puppet of Michael Heseltine in his more unhinged moments during the dying days of Thatcherism.”

He continued: “If blogging were Eurovision, Jacob would be sitting in the green room desperately waiting for the scores while every country awarded its points elsewhere. The presenter would eventually have to ask whether anybody had remembered to vote for him.

“But perhaps the most interesting thing about this latest literary masterpiece isn't what it says about me. It's what it conspicuously fails to say about the business of actually being a councillor.

“The third blog was apparently completed the day before a cabinet meeting at which some pretty significant decisions were due to be made.

“What did Williams have to say about the reported decision to spend more than £1.2 million on cameras at the tips? Anything at all? Not that I have seen.

“And what about the purchase of a property from a fellow cabinet member at market price, reportedly with a sitting tenant in place? Again, where was the scrutiny? Where were the searching questions? Where was the fearless investigative journalism? Silence.

“Now, the question of whether a property with a sitting tenant should command the same price as an otherwise comparable vacant property is one that deserves proper examination, supported by the relevant evidence and circumstances.

“If the transaction warrants scrutiny, let's see that scrutiny. But where is Williams when these matters arise?

“For someone apparently capable of producing thousands of words about me, he seems remarkably economical with his words when it comes to matters of council business that deserve public attention.

“Perhaps this is simply an unfortunate coincidence. Perhaps he has perfectly reasonable explanations for his silence. Perhaps he has been busy.

“Or perhaps, when it comes to asking awkward questions of his own colleagues, the fearless blogger suddenly develops a severe case of writer's block.

“So, where does that leave our intrepid Temu journalist?

“Three blogs. Thousands upon thousands of words. An audience apparently suffering from advanced indifference. And a rather awkward set of questions about what he chooses to scrutinise — and what he doesn't,” added Cllr Dennison.