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- An independent investigation has found a Southland community board breached four parts of their Code of Conduct.
- A member of the public says the Tuatapere Te Waewae Community Board were disrespectful in an email he was sent last September about a column he wrote.
- The investigation found four breaches all relating to the board's relationships with the community and elected members.
- The Southland District Council voted to uphold the breaches, but take no further action against the community board, instead supporting district wide recommendations.
- The board was told about the official complaint about eight months ago, but it was aired at a public meeting for the first time on Monday.
The Southland District Council has voted to take no further action against a community board that breached multiple parts of their Code of Conduct.
A member of the public complained after receiving an email from the Tuatapere Te Waewae Community Board that claimed a column he wrote in a community newsletter contained errors and misrepresentations.
He alleged it was disrespectful, contained unjustified accusations and overstepped the Code, but an independent investigation said the matter did not happen in isolation and followed months of rising tensions with him.
The investigation found the board, which includes a district councillor, made four breaches relating to relationships with the community and other elected members.
The council contacted the board about the alleged breach last December, but all discussions have been held behind closed doors until a council meeting on Monday.
There was no debate or discussion at the meeting with Southland Mayor Rob Scott making the only comments before the vote was held.
"It's taken quite a long time but I think the important part was to make sure we had a robust, thorough process for all those involved," Scott said.
Councillors voted to uphold the four breaches, which included:
- Refraining from conduct that may cause unwarranted offence or embarrassment.
- Ensuring citizens are accorded respect in their dealings with the council.
- Acting in a manner than encourages and values community involvement in local democracy.
- Recognising that effective council decision making depends on a productive relationship with the community.
They also voted to take no further action against the community board.
Instead councillors supported recommendations:
- To offer all community board members in the district training on their responsibilities and managing conflict.
- Confirm all elected members are aware of their responsibilities to share information with the council.
- Consider changes to the Code to make it clearer and more relevant.
- Encourage community boards to have workshops in public where possible and provide more opportunities to interact with the community.
Sue Wells & Associates director Sue Wells conducted an investigation into the breach, finding frustrations on both sides.
The board claimed they had been struggling with the relationship with the complainant and she agreed the complainant had been mixing fact and opinion in their column without a disclaimer.
But Wells said she also believed the man and his spouse had been genuinely hurt by what had happened and were rightly offended by the email they received.
She came to the conclusion that the community board unwisely wrote an unprofessional email after months of tensions and frustrations, but that did not justify their conduct.
"While this may seem a small matter, this is a small community, and getting a telling off from the Community Board in writing is no small thing. Equally, being found to have breached the Code of Conduct is no small thing for an elected member," she said.
"There has already been a lot of stress and upset for all parties and I recommend to Council that it steps very carefully through its consideration."
She did not recommend attempting to force the board to apologise, saying it would not result in anything other than more conflict.
The board did not seek input from council staff before sending the email.