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Queenstown counselor Niki Gladding says losing his roles with the “is not an impediment” committee.
Photo: RNZ / TESS BRUNTON
- A Queenstown counselor was relegated after revealing a confidential board plan to fulfill the sewage treated on the Shotover river.
- Last week, Niki Gladding leaked the council’s plans to pump at least 12,000 cubic meters of fabric -treated sewage per day using emergency powers.
- The mayor summoned an extraordinary meeting in Queenstown on Tuesday afternoon with the team recommending that she was removed from her committee positions.
- Mayor Glyn Lewers said it was a transparent and open decision that, as supported by most counselors.
An advisor to Queenstown stripped of his papers with the committee after revealing confidential information says she cares that this will have a frightening effect on other elected members who want to speak up.
Niki Gladding leaked the council’s plans to pump at least 12,000 cubic meters of sewage treated on the Shotover river every day and an extraordinary meeting was summoned today to remove her from her committee papers.
Speaking after the meeting, Gladding confirmed that he would do the same thing again.
“Ultimately, my responsibility is not to the organization or the counselors, but to the people who elected me, it is for the community,” said Gladding.
“It’s not an impediment, put it like this, for me. But I worry that this has this kind of scary effect on the counselors in the future.”
The counselors gathered in front of a packed public gallery – and occasionally shrill on Tuesday afternoon, with some of the gladding supporters recording their mouths.
She went to the Council, saying that she was not unfairly following the proceedings, as there was no complaint and her actions were not evaluated independently under the code of conduct.
“Where elected members must have violated the code without even going through the process, and that’s what happened to me here,” she said.
“Everyone, employees, elected members said, ‘You have violated the code and now you will face the punishment.'”
Gladding told the counselors that the report was written by employees who were clearly frustrated by their choice to speak before leaving the table and sit in the public gallery to applaud their supporters.
The public gallery was full of some people recording their mouths.
Photo: RNZ / TESS BRUNTON
The deputy mayor Quentin Smith voted against the roles.
“I am disappointed with the actions that led to this. I think there is (A) a very clear process in which the principles of natural justice apply and independence, the investigation applies and this is my favorite way to deal with the subject,” he said.
Counselor Cody Tucker said that leaking the plan was harmful.
“The difficulty is when someone leaks information, it reinforces this conspiracy narrative and can deepen the wound of distrust,” he said.
He acknowledged that she was a councilwoman who worked hard.
“But the long -term impact of this decision to undermine public trust is incalculable and does not guarantee acquittal (responsibility) in my opinion,” he said.
“I have never received so many threatening and emails or I saw so much anger in the community.”
Counselor Craig Ferguson said she admitted to breaking the rules.
“The excluded audience is there to protect all stakeholders when necessary and from time to time that include the community. There is a goal for the rules we govern. For me, they were broken and, for me, there must be consequences,” he said.
Councilwoman Melissa White said she did not agree that public members did not have the opportunity to talk about a public forum.
Counselor Gavin Bartlett said there was clear reasons why the information was confidential and deadlines for when the audience would be informed, but she ignored it.
Only two of the 12 counselors voted against the decision to remove it from their roles – but happy they abstained and another counselor was absent.
Mayor Glyn Lewers speaks to reporters after the meeting.
Photo: RNZ / TESS BRUNTON
Mayor Glyn Lewers told reporters that it was an open and transparent decision that had majority support.
“Of course I’m disappointed. Look, nobody wants to go through this process. But look like a group of elected members, we talked that,” he said.
“We felt that something needed to happen to release … legally privileged information in a publicly excluded scenario. It was felt by the counselors that something had to be done.”
Lewers believed the council was becoming more transparent, but said the leak of information impacted public opinion.
“I admit that this action made us look like we are on the back, but there was a genuine plan to free it to the public as soon as we talked to the stakeholders,” he said.
The advice began to unload to Rio on Monday.
Aotearoa Water Action – of which Gladding is a member – applied to the Environmental Court for an injury to prevent the council from being discharged in the river but has been fired.
It was expected that the board would present a consent of resources for wastewater discharges before the end of the month.
Lewers said the lagoon that was attracting birds and increasing the risk of nearby planes would begin to dissipate in the coming days.
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