Councillor cleared of conflict of interest
An investigation by the auditorgeneral’s office has cleared a Tararua councillor of a suspected conflict of interest.
Dannevirke contractor Ernie Christison’s position on the Tararua District Council has been in limbo since January, when he sought approval for two contracts with the council to carry out work on a council-led Woodville water upgrade project and another project on the Woodville library i-site.
A letter sent from Office of the Auditor-general to the Tararua District Council shows the site preparation work for the water upgrade was worth about $28,100, while the work for the i-site was worth another $2300.
But, under the Local Authorities (Members Interest) Act 1968, councillors are unable to earn more than $25,000 from the council during a financial year, excluding their salary.
Councillors can, however, seek prior approval for contracts exceeding the $25,000 amount, and occasionally retrospective approval can be granted.
Christison said he received a retrospective dispensation from the Office of the Auditor General on Tuesday, allowing him to go ahead with the work.
He was ‘‘back and ready to fight for [the] burnout pad’’ – an area he made for car enthusiasts to do burnouts on, he said.
The burnout pad has since been shut down by his council.
The auditor-general’s office also looked into whether potential conflict-of-interest issues were declared at the Tararua District Council meetings.
It said in the letter that although Christison took part in discussions on the urgent water project in December, at the time, there was no expectation he would work on the project.
That decision was later made in January, when the project was originally expected to cost $22,000.
When Christison later realised the project would breach the statutory limit of $25,000, he sought approval from the Office of the Auditor-general.
It found there was ‘‘sufficient special reason’’ why prior approval was not gained.
It also granted Christison approval to work on the i-site building.
Because Christison’s quote of $2300 was nowhere near the statutory limit for the 2016-17 financial year, the auditor-general’s office found it was understandable he did not seek its approval at the time.
It also found Christison had successfully declared his involvement in the Woodville library upgrade and did not participate in council discussions on the project.
Christison told the Manawatu Standard last week he was happy to be transparent and had nothing to hide.
Tararua mayor Tracey Collis said it was great to have a positive outcome for Christison, his business and the council.
She said it was the first time the council had been involved in making an application to the auditorgeneral’s office and the process of making one had since been clarified with the council.
She said it was extremely important for councillors to clearly distinguish between their personal or business roles in the community and their roles as elected representatives, and follow the necessary processes in a timely way.
‘‘Whilst we support the act as it is good governance, we would support it being reviewed to bring it into line with inflation. The numbers need to be realistic for today’s economy,’’ she said.