Southland District Council has been conducting meetings in private relating to an email sent by the chair of a community board. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer
Details of a secret code of conduct issue have finally come to light, eight months after a southern council began holding private meetings.
Late on Wednesday night, Southland District Council released the outcome of an independent investigation regarding a letter sent by Tūātapere Te Waewae Community Board chair Anne Horrell.
The letter, sent on behalf of the board after being circulated to members, left complainant Myles Greber "deeply offended", the investigation found.
But it also noted the relationship between the board and Greber was strained, with tensions bubbling for months.
The issue began on 15 September when chair Horrell wrote to Greber expressing concern his column in community newsletter Western Wanderer was factually incorrect and contradicted parts of what she had written in the same edition.
Three days later, Greber replied asking the board to address his concerns, which included privacy because Horrell's reply had come from a shared personal email address.
Greber said the board had likely overstepped the council's code of conduct and requested acknowledgment that "the accusations you have made are unjustified and untrue".
But Greber didn't get his wish, because Horrell never sent that email to the other board members.
After this oversight was raised with her, Horrell immediately apologised to Greber for the error but doubled down on concerns his report was negative, disparaging and inaccurate.
The complainant then took up the issue with the council, resulting in the organisation's executive committee holding its first of four meetings in December.
In March, Horrell told the executive committee she felt responsible and was willing to apologise on behalf of the board for causing offence, while making it clear the board still stood behind its response.
With the committee deeming the board's response insufficient for an apology, a formal investigation was launched using Sue Wells & Associates.
The investigation has cost more than $7700 to date.
Director Sue Wells conducted interviews in Tūātapere over two days in May and found the relationship between the board and the complainant had broken down, with "entrenched positions from all parties".
Wells said the issue boiled down to the board writing an "unprofessional" email after months of frustration.
"This did not happen in isolation, and tension had been building for months before the email was sent.
"One of the board members indicates that they had asked council for help three times but that it had not been forthcoming."
Wells said although the matter might seem small, getting told off by the community board was "no small thing".
She found the board had breached the code, and provided a series of recommendations.
Those included further training, reviewing the decision making process, making members aware of information sharing requirements, reviewing email addresses, reviewing support offered to boards, and amending the code of conduct to make it clearer.
On Monday, the council will meet to determine if it believes a breach has occurred.
The executive committee has endorsed many of Wells' suggestions, and believes no further action should be taken against the board members.
Horrell was contacted by Local Democracy Reporting but did not wish to comment.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
