New war of words over Bydder’s foul language brouhaha

Tuesday, 3 September 2024

A Hamilton councillor’s potty-mouthed blast in a submission to Waipā district breached the code of conduct and featured “highly confronting” language, a draft report says.

But Andrew Bydder’s firing back, saying the investigator is wrong.

His expletive-laden submission to Waipā’s council over a proposed third bridge came to light in June.

Along with F and C words, it contained slurs referring to people with intellectual and physical impairments and comment on mayor Susan O’Regan’s appearance.

That sparked more than 20 code of conduct complaints to Hamilton City Council - including from its mayor Paula Southgate - but Bydder’s been adamant he made his comments as a Waipā resident, not a Hamilton councillor, and shouldn’t be penalised.

Now Bydder has sent the Waikato Times a consultation draft of a report dated 12 August from the independent investigator considering the complaints.

Investigator Mary Hill suggests “the code applies at all times, not only in councillor Bydder’s official capacity, but also as a representative of council and the wider community”.

“While councillor Bydder is entitled to freedom of expression, this must be balanced against his concurrent responsibility to be respectful.

“The complaints received from members of the public allege that (and I have found that) the comments in the submission fell below the standard of respect and courtesy required by the code.”

While Bydder was entitled to freely express his view “that right is subject to the provisions of the code which restrict the manner in which he expressed that opinion”.

The submission included an expletive most “reasonable members of the public would consider highly confronting”.

Relevant code provisions applied whether a councillor was interacting with the public in an official or personal capacity, Hill said.

The draft found “serious” breaches of two sections of the code and recommends a formal letter of censure to Bydder, training, working with a mentor and a written apology to O’Regan.

If Bydder didn’t do whatever the council required of him, Hill’s draft recommends he is invited to give “serious consideration to whether he is suited to the role of an elected member”.

Bydder said on Monday he’d been given the draft so he could provide feedback.

However, he felt Hill was wrong and instead sent a five-page response direct to Hamilton’s chief executive Lance Vervoort.

“I think it’s very clear that I haven’t breached the code,” he told the Waikato Times.

“The council process has been a classic example of the arrogance and incompetence that I called out Waipā council for in my submission.”

He was willing to apologise for his remarks but “I would be apologising to members of the public for any offence caused through the use of that language but not to anyone on a council”.

At no stage did he interact with the public when making his submission.

On whether he still thought the language used was OK, he said: “I think it was appropriate for the council”.

A city council meeting is due 17 September to consider Bydder’s case, but Bydder isn’t happy.

In his latest note to Vervoort, Bydder complains about the timelines for getting information on complaints against former councillor Dave Macpherson - ones rejected as Macpherson claimed to be acting in a private capacity.

He said the Local Government Act stipulates the code only applies to actions taken in the capacity of an elected member.

Bydder wants the 17 September meeting withdrawn until a “proper” code process is completed.