Taking issue with column

THE piece about DCC traffic plans by Otago regional councillor Hilary Calvert (Opinion, 26.12.20) contains some dubious arguments — especially when she raises the possibility of central government intervention.

Ironically, three of the reasons she lists about the DCC that may interest the Minister of Local Government are the direct result of bad behaviour of her running mate, Cr Lee Vandervis: The minister does not like councils to be in the newspaper, especially on the front page, in an adversarial light; the minister does not like Code of Conduct proceedings; the minister does not like poor language by councillors or infighting.

All of these criteria are the direct result of welldocumented and ongoing bad behaviour from Cr Vandervis.

These issues could be addressed if he behaved better. They are not arguments for central government intervention.

Chris Wilson North East Valley