Exclusion from committees ‘pathetic’, says mayor
YOUR GROUND ENGINEERING EXPERTS
Embattled South Wairarapa mayor Martin Connolly has vowed to “stick in there” as fellow councillors move to further isolate their figurehead.
South Wairarapa District Council held an extraordinary meeting last week, two days before the mayor was due to come back from health leave, and unanimously voted to strip him of roles on various groups and committees.
Connolly said he was surprised by the action, and he had no intention of stepping down as mayor. “I intend to carry on doing what I have been doing.”
He described the decision to hold a special meeting to exclude him as “extraordinary”. “It’s both embarrassing for the community and somewhat pathetic, but it’s done.”
Councillors disputed Connelly’s claim that he was unaware of the review of committee appointments saying an independent adviser had told the mayor about the council’s review plan ahead of last week’s meeting.
The nine councillors voted unanimously in October that they had no confidence in the mayor, after which Connelly said he would do his best to regain the confidence of his council. During his recent two-month leave of absence, the council was headed by deputy mayor Melissa Sadler-Futter.
She led the meeting last Wednesday where Connelly was removed from a raft of representative roles including: the Wellington Regional Mayoral Forum, Wellington Regional Leadership
Committee, Wairarapa Committee of GWRC, South Wairarapa Māori Standing Committee, Wellington Water Committee, Civil Defence Committee, Remutaka Transport Group among others. Sadler-Futter would not explicitly say why the council took the additional measures.
In a statement she said the council had reviewed committee appointments so they were not not only spread across the council but were also represented “by those with an interest, experience or expertise on a particular committee”.
All the councillors supported a letter to the mayor last October, prior to the vote of no confidence, citing concerns over Connelly disrespecting public presenters, his non-attendance at some critical meetings and his unilateral decision making and statements on behalf of the council, among other things.
Councillor Alistair Plimmer said all the decisions around excluding the mayor from committees were taken “following advice from LGNZ (Local Government NZ) and have been made in full accordance with the provisions in the Local Government Act”.
“The decisions, however, reluctantly they are made, have been taken to maintain the stability and good governance of the elected members for the benefit of our community.”
Connelly said he worked with a mediator provided by LGNZ at the end of last year, and a facilitator earlier this year to help improve his working relationship with his colleagues.
The fact that he would not be representing council on some of these prominent committees would not stop him from doing his job.