Councillors complain because a Mayor wants to reduce debt and rates

Stuff reports:

Waitomo’s six district councillors have filed a complaint against their mayor, alleging he breached the council’s code of conduct. …

On Tuesday, the council will meet to hear public submissions on its annual plan and rates increase.

It’s a key meeting because Robertson had been keenly pursuing avenues to reduce the district’s $40m debt ever since he was voted in as mayor in 2019.

He is a former National MP and former mayor for Papakura but now lives in Piopio.

In 2012 he was appointed to lead a group of commissioners to sort out governance issues at Kaipara District Council, and he was using that experience to change governance and policies at Waitomo.

He had been using online and print media to push his views around debt reduction and the arrival of Covid-19 provided put more pressure on all councils to look at reducing rate increases.

He promoted the idea of a “rates freeze” to keep the council’s rates collection at the same level as the previous year.

It’s possible some councillors disagreed with this approach and disagreed with Robertson’s outspoken commentary of the matter.

So the Mayor is campaigning for a rates freeze, and the six muppets on the Council with him have lodged a formal complaint against him for doing so.

How pathetic. They should be made to pay the cost of investogating their complaint.

And ratepayers should sack the six of them.