Bay of Plenty Regional Council puts Stacey Rose abuse and ageism claims to bed

Allegations of abuse and ageism involving Bay of Plenty Regional Council finally came to a close in the first meeting of elected members yesterday.

In November last year, councillor Stacey Rose confirmed he would not seek re-election in this year’s local body elections, citing claims of abuse and ageism from within and outside of the council.

At the time, the 22-year-old told NZME: “The biggest thing here is ageism. We are being degraded and shot down for being too young.

“I’ve received messages, emails, and phone calls pretty much telling me to ‘take a hike’, ‘you’re too young’, ‘you shouldn’t be there’. Others have said ‘you should be doing things that people your age do’,” he said in November.

In an RNZ interview that followed, he clarified he was not subject to abuse and ageism by all fellow councillors, and some had been supportive.

Rose’s allegations “disturbed” some of his colleagues and an independent investigation into the matter was sought.

Last month, the findings from the investigation – led by consultant Maureen Glassey -found while Rose’s claims of abuse from the wider community were valid, the claims involving fellow elected members could not be substantiated by fact.

In yesterday’s meeting, the council was asked to formally receive the report from the investigation.

Chairman Doug Leeder said while he did not think there was any need to “traverse” the matter any further, he was duty-bound to comment. Leeder originally initiated the $14,000 investigation, citing the allegations as serious.

“I think this issue now needs to be put to bed, put to rest. It was investigated by an independent party, the result is there in terms of that – open for all to see,” he said.

“The results speak for themselves.”

While the investigation cleared the council of the claims, it also found some councillors were found to have displayed “poor” and “discourteous” behaviour unbecoming of people in such roles, the investigation found.

Despite this, Leeder said he wanted to acknowledge his fellow councillors for their professionalism in the matter.

“Across the local government sector, it’s not always obvious – the governance discipline – when you have to face criticisms like that as professionals.”

Rose, who at 19 was the youngest ever elected to the council, was present at the meeting but did not speak on the matter.

He joined his fellow councillors in a unanimous vote to accept the report and its findings, including the report’s recommendation to consider setting up confidential workshops for elected members as part of their induction to the organisation to address potential unconscious bias.

In a previous article, Leeder said many councillors were disturbed and disappointed by the allegations.

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