Multiple complaints have been made about the comments made by Hamilton City Councillor Andrew Bydder. Photo: Supplied
Hamilton City Councillor Andrew Bydder needs to publicly apologise for his use of the words "r******d" and "s*****c" in an expletive-laden rant online, a disability advocate says.
Vision Impaired NZ national executive director for parents Dr Rebekah Graham said the use of the words in a derogatory manner made them ableist slurs.
Graham - a Hamilton resident - is one of 10 people who have lodged a formal complaint over Bydder's online submission to Waipā District Council.
Bydder, a first-term Hamilton councillor who lives in Cambridge, opened his submission on the placement of a third bridge in the town with: "What the f**k are you r******d s*****c c**ts doing?".
He went on to insult Waipā mayor Susan O'Regan by saying: "Get off your fat arse and do your job", as well as writing that outgoing chief executive Garry Dyet "better be sacked before he retires".
Graham said Bydder needed to publicly apologise and give a sizeable donation to both Cerebral Palsy NZ and IHC.
"The word 'r******d' is an offensive ableist slur that discriminates against the intellectually/learning disabled community.
"It has long since been discarded from use and is widely considered pejorative. It is considered by some in the community to be hate speech."
She said the word "s*****c" was used by Bydder in a derogatory manner because it was intentionally used to offend people.
"This word is an old-fashioned and offensive name for a person who has cerebral palsy. It is highly offensive to people within the cerebral palsy community and has no place in formal documentation.
"No elected member of any local council should deride disabled people and their families in this way. We are not slurs. We are members of the public and we have a right to dignity and respect."
Graham said as the mother of a disabled child, she was distressed at the comments.
"It makes me feel ill that other adults think of that way when they think of my child. It makes me incredibly distressed that my child gets used as a slur to demean other people, and that is not okay."
O'Regan said she had received a flood of support and she considered Bydder and his supporters were the "overwhelming minority".
She said she could not call for Bydder to resign, but said if one of her councillors "behaved in that sort of manner I would have some pretty frank discussions around their ability to continue to uphold standards that people expect of elected members".
O'Regan said before the feedback she did not know Bydder and said he had never contacted her personally before with his concerns.
She admitted Waipā had "mis-stepped" in earlier consultation over the placement of a third bridge but said she had apologised for that but it did not excuse Bydder's comments, which she said grabbed her attention for all the wrong reasons.
A Hamilton City Council spokesperson said there were now 10 complaints about Bydder's conduct, including Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate, a mix of elected representatives from both councils, and members of the public.
"Staff expect to have an assessment of the complaint on Thursday. Any further complaints of a similar nature can be considered against the initial assessment."
The assessment is estimated to cost $700 and will determine whether an investigation was warranted or not.
Bydder was unapologetic for the comments and said any councillors who had complained about him could "f**k off" because he had the right to freedom of expression.
When asked about the slurs on the disabled community, Bydder said he would make a donation when Waipā council paid $50 million to Cambridge residents for devaluing their homes with the bridge's proposed placement over four streets.
Bydder said although he was not in one of the streets, he lived nearby and would be affected by traffic on the major arterial route if it went ahead.
He said he had received 20 messages about the submission and only two were against. He claimed four Waipā councillors were also supporting him.
