Wellington City Councillor Diane Calvert and Mayor Tory Whanau. Photo: RNZ
A Wellington city councillor has accused Mayor Tory Whanau of a politically motivated attack, rejecting claims she leaked confidential information to the media.
Last month, five councillors - Diane Calvert, Ray Chung, Tony Randle, Nicola Young and Iona Pannett - were the subject of a code of conduct complaint made by Mayor Tory Whanau and Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon.
They were accused of leaking confidential information after a meeting behind closed doors on the future of Reading Cinema on Courtenay Place.
On Wednesday, in a joint statement, Calvert, Chung, Randle and Young said they would not participate in the investigation. Pannett declined to comment.
Calvert told Morning Report she was not complying with the review into her protocol because the process was biased.
"[She has] the responsibility to act fairly, act independently and she's not doing that," Calvert said.
"We found out earlier this week that she'd had dinner at the investigator's house - she's already predetermined, she's talking about leaking councillors.
"We've been singled out because we happen to vote a certain way, I mean is this going to happen every time we vote against the mayor?"
There was no solid proof she passed on any confidential details or beached any code of conduct, she said.
"The only evidence is because I just happen to vote against the deal, and the only evidence they produced was a media story, which had the headline about Reading - was me quoted about talking about the city's finances, which I've done openly and actually did seek legal advice from my own council," Calvert said.
She said Whanau never spoke to the other councillors first about any breaches and had handled the situation inappropriately.
"If you're thinking that you're going to lodge something like this which is quite significant, especially when you bring in a very expensive lawyer, you'd think you could at least say, 'Well did you leak? What did you say? What didn't you say?' No one talked to us at all."
Golden Mile plans 'nonsense' - opponent
It followed Whanau also hitting out about a recent poll which suggested two thirds of respondents opposed Let's Get Wellington Moving.
Guardians of the Golden Mile's Barry Wilson said the Golden Mile as a project was questionable.
"It's all a fiscal nightmare, look at Erebus. We flew a plane into a mountain because the settings were wrong, we've got the wrong settings and we're spending money that we haven't got in the light of new circumstances.
"The mayor's relying upon an historic approval and from Waka Kotahi, it's no longer valid because we can't afford it."
He said after witnessing the vote on the project in June, it was clear it was "nonsense".
"When you've got fiscally illiterate councillors there and then mature clever business-like councillors saying this is nuts, sometimes you have to listen to experience."
When speaking about the town hall, he said the project was very controversial and beyond the city's means.
"The council has been misled by its own officers and even possibly the CEO, they were not aware of the fiscal blackhole we're going into at that time. The news on the town hall was withheld from councillors.
"When you're going broke, you don't put a swingball in the backyard do you?" Wilson said.
The mayor's office has been contacted for comment.
