Complaint to be heard by conduct committee
A CONFLICT of interest complaint against Queenstown Mayor Jim Boult will be heard by the council’s elected member conduct committee on Monday.
The complaint was brought by council candidate Niki Gladding over Mr Boult’s involvement in discussions and decisions on airport development and the proposed visitor levy while chairman of tourism company Wayfare.
In an email on Thursday, council lawyer Alice Balme told Ms Gladding an initial meeting of the elected member conduct committee had discussed the ‘‘best process’’.
‘‘The consensus of those at the meeting was that all councillors should be invited to a conduct committee meeting . . . to consider the substance of your complaint.’’
Ms Gladding has been in dispute with the council over the process.
Last month, she declined an invitation from the committee’s independent chairman, Auckland lawyer Mike Holm, to ‘‘informally discuss’’ her complaint, asking instead to speak to the whole committee.
Chief executive Mike Theelen then emailed Ms Gladding saying it was standard practice for the chair of the committee to ‘‘attempt to resolve a complaint like yours informally before the full conduct committee is convened’’.
However, he then said the council would convene a committee of deputy mayor Calum MacLeod and the audit, finance and risk committee chairman Ross McRobie, along with Mr Holm.
‘‘It is for the committee to determine the nature and scope of the inquiry into your complaint, if any, and to ultimately determine whether or not the complaint is upheld.’’
However, Ms Gladding objected to the threemember committee suggested by Mr Theelen.
‘‘According to the [conduct] committee’s terms of reference, it is comprised of all councillors and the independent chair,’’ Ms Gladding told Mr Theelen.
Ms Gladding said yesterday she was pleased to now have Ms Balme’s assurance all councillors would consider her complaint but she had found the process to date hard and communication with the committee ‘‘very difficult’’.
‘‘I don’t have any faith in the process, to be honest, but that’s OK.
‘‘It’s just going to play out as it plays out.’’
She was willing to attend the meeting on Monday — which will be held ‘‘incommittee’’ — but had not been invited.