Wellington Mayor Andy Foster’s fate to be decided in public

Wellington City councillors have voted to discuss the findings of a code of conduct complaint against mayor Andy Foster in public.

Council officials advised deliberations should be held behind closed doors, but councillors overturned that at a meeting today.

Several councillors openly advocated against the public being shut out leading up to the meeting.

The complaint, made by councillor Jenny Condie, claimed Foster shared potentially defamatory and previously discredited information before a controversial Shelly Bay vote.

Condie said the mayor called her to his office before the vote to show her information that would change her mind about Shelly Bay.

The information was some notes Foster made from a phone call alleging a former council manager put pressure on staff over their position on Shelly Bay roading issues.

The report is yet to be made public but the Herald has learned the report found Foster’s behaviour breached the council’s code of conduct because what he did was capable of undermining public confidence in the office to which he has been elected.

It recommended a letter be written to formally censure Foster as well as a private apology to the former council officer.

Councillors are today considering the report, deciding whether Foster did breach the council’s code of conduct, and any consequences.

Council officials said these matters should be discussed without the public present.

They said matters of such a contentious nature faced the possibility of a challenge by way of judicial review. There was also a privacy risk of someone inadvertently disclosing a name that had been redacted in the report that the public would get after the meeting.

But councillor Fleur Fitzsimons disagreed with that position.

“There is overwhelming public interest in this.”

She said the thrust of the Local Government Act was for open, transparent, and accountable decision making.

Councillor Jill Day said having the discussion in public would provide more discipline in deliberations.

“What we say here, we should be happy for other people to hear.”

Councillor Sean Rush labelled Foster’s actions a misdemeanour, and agreed the meeting should be held in public.

“This whole thing has been blown up well out of proportion and we should hold this publicly and expose it.”

Councillor Diane Calvert said it was an issue of natural justice and disagreed the matter should be discussed in public.

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