Five city councillors investigated over meeting leak
Friday, 13 October 2023
Serious fractures are appearing in the Wellington City Council team that mayor Tory Whanau pledged to gel together, after an investigation into five colleagues suspected of leaking sensitive information was launched.
Councillor Diane Calvert, one of those targeted, labelled the code of conduct investigation an “orchestrated attack on democracy” and an attempt to “silence and discredit” independent councillors.
The Post was last week leaked information about the subject of a secret council meeting, understood to be about a deal to purchase land under Reading Cinemas in order to encourage the owners to earthquake strengthen the empty complex on Courtenay Place.
The only public information available was the title, “City Activation project”.
A majority of councillors voted to exclude the public, with Whanau saying it was necessary because of the “complicated and sensitive nature of the deal”.
Rumours about a possible complaint started to spread on the evening of the leak, with a councillor commenting anonymously that a Code of Conduct complaint was being considered and the leak was “ruining Wellingtonians’ chance of a good deal”.
In February, Whanau told The Post she aimed to create a culture of “trust, transparency, and collaboration” after dysfunction marred the previous term.
“That would mean less bickering at the council table, actually talking to each other, not letting things fester, not going on to social media to make snide comments about each other,” she said at the time.
After a period of relative calm, the gloves appear to be off.
Along with Calvert, Ray Chung, Tony Randle, Nicola Young, and a fifth unidentified councillor, all received notice of the investigation from Whanau on Thursday night.
Linda Clark, a partner from law firm Dentons Kensington Swan, has been hired to independently review the complaint.
A press release sent by the identified councillors said the complaint focused on breaches of confidentiality in relation to Reading Cinemas, along with councillors’ concerns about the cost of strengthening the Town Hall and the financial problems facing the city.
Calvert said the complaint was an example of “command culture” and there had been no attempt to unite councillors or work across the political divide.
Young said the council should be spending its money on water infrastructure, rather than expensive lawyers. Whanau had not discussed the complaint with the councillors concerned, she said.
The councillors would not provide a copy of the complaint, with Calvert saying they did “not have access to legal resources” and wanted to protect themselves against “further unsubstantiated attacks”.
Deputy mayor Laurie Foon made the complaint to Whanau about the leak. She would not provide further information about how she believed the five councillors had breached the Code of Conduct, referring the question back to Whanau.
The mayor’s office would not provide a copy of the complaint, saying it would be unfair to the people involved and would need to be requested through an official information request.
Whanau confirmed she had received a complaint claiming that a number of councillors had breached the Code of Conduct.
“To assist me in my consideration of these allegations I have initiated an independent review to establish if any breach has occurred,” she said.
She would not make any further comment until the investigation was finished.
In terms of confidential information, the Code of Conduct says councillors “will receive information which they need to treat as confidential”, including information officers had decided should be withheld for reasons of commercial sensitivity.
The most recent complaint was in 2021, when then-mayor Andy Foster attempted to share confidential information about the Shelly Bay development with councillors.
After six months an independent report recommended that Foster be censured. The council then asked him to apologise, but decided against sending a letter to formally censure him.