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South Waikato District Council and its code of misconduct

Last week I wrote about the issues I'd had with my local council, The South Waikato District Council.

The local Mayor, Gary Petley is already ranked NZ's worst, by a significant margin, and this week the world got to see exactly why he is so deserving of that award.

I had posted a video to Facebook showing some of the events of the week but a day ago I also uploaded a video to YouTube and, as of this morning, it's had over 120,000 views in the brief time it's been online.

The Mayor and his councilors should be ashamed -- but they're not.

The video has already attracted over 2,000 comments from around the country and around the world. Few, if any, are supportive of the Mayor's actions. Most are highly criticial and a lot are far from flattering.

How can this have happened?

How could any mayor and councilors, employed by the people of a district to work on behalf of ratepayers, allow themselves to act in a way that brings such scorn and disrepute upon themselves and the council as a whole.

Surely there must be something in their Code of Conduct (PDF) that requires them not to act in a way that would bring disrepute on themselves either individually or as a collective.

Indeed, that document clearly states:

I would argue that they most certainly have behaved improperly (by consensus of the public) and therefore their actions have significantly harmed their reputation in respect to honesty and integrity.

The Code of Conduct also states:

Was I singled out for special treatment when I (a member of the public) attempting to enter the council chambers to attend a public meeting was stopped and told I may not enter? Was I therefore not discriminated against?

The Code of Conduct also states:

Does not violating someone's rights under the NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990 represent a breach of this?

So which councilor at the SWDC will bring a code of coduct action against the mayor for his actions last week?

Sadly, I suspect none will -- either because they are complicit in these actions or because (in the case of some female councilors) they fear retribution and bullying from their peers if they do -- as has been documented in the past.

This is not how a functional democracy is supposed to work.

The effects of this fiasco go far beyond just being embarrassing. For example, any company thinking of setting up shop in the South Waikato would consider this kind of behaviour from the body they'll be dependent on for all sorts of permits and consents to be a significant risk factor. Why take that risk when there are other districts where the rights of individuals and businesses are more likely to be respected?

There's already a shortage of jobs in the South Waikato, mayor Gary Petley, by his petulant actions, is simply ensuring that this situation does not improve and that is not what the community wants or expects from a mayor and his council.

I strongly suspect that in the next poll, Mayor Gary Petley will have extended his lead by a huge margin as "New Zealand's worst mayor".

And, for the record, because I do not seek confrontation but simply want the community to get a fair deal from this council and its mayor, I have emailed the Mayor on several occasions with an invitation to meet in an "off the record" confidential setting to try and resolve whatever is going on. I also made a public offer to do the same.

Suffice to say, his response to date has been a rather curt "No thanks".

It would appear that nothing is more important to this mayor than his pride.

Please read the comments on that YouTube video I linked above. How can any mayor or councilor feel happy with their actions when this much criticism is being leveled against them from all over the planet? And why have a Code of Conduct at all if you do not feel bound by its contents?

Not fit for purpose!

This story is far from over and I think the SWDC will soon learn that there is no place for such a lack of honesty and integrity in today's world.

Carpe Diem folks!

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