Member of the public lays Code of Conduct complaint against Mayor Cull

Received.
Fri, 18 Dec 2015 at 11:41 p.m.

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From: Chris Staynes
Date: 18 December 2015 at 8:23:07 PM NZDT
To: Diane Yeldon
Cc: Sandy Graham, Sue Bidrose, Lee Vandervis
Subject: Code of conduct.

Dear Ms Yeldon,
I refer to your email to me on 17 December 2015 making a Code of Conduct complaint about Mayor Cull. I provide the following response.

The Code requires that any alleged breach involving the Mayor is reported to me in the first instance. In receiving the complaint as Deputy Mayor I then have to be satisfied that there are “reasonable grounds for believing that a provision of the Code has been breached”.

I have reviewed the Code and Standing Orders and have concluded that there are not reasonable grounds for thinking a provision has been breached and as such I will not be progressing the matter. I now outline my reasons for reaching this conclusion.

The Code of Conduct (section J2.2) requires that the Mayor is responsible for ensuring the orderly conduct of business as determined in standing orders. There is also a requirement that the community have their concerns listened to and deliberated on in accordance with the requirements of the Act (section J 3.3). Therefore, the principles of the code of conduct may apply to the conduct of speakers at a public forum.

Standing Orders (section F7) provides that the Chairperson has the discretion to decline to hear speakers at the Public Forum where the number of speakers exceeds the time allocation for the Public Forum.

On Friday afternoon, Ms Jordan was advised by the Mayor that given the size of the Council agenda to be considered at the meeting, the public forum was fully subscribed. He instructed that no further speakers were to be taken. At the time of that advice, you had not indicated you wished to speak.

You advised an interest in speaking by email on Sunday, 13 December 2016. You were telephoned and advised on Monday morning that the public forum was fully subscribed. You withdrew your request to speak at the public forum during this conversation. You subsequently arrived at the public forum requesting to speak. There was no additional speaking time for the public forum period (as all speakers had used their maximum time) and at the meeting the Mayor declined your request to speak.

It is not a breach of standing orders to decline the opportunity for a speaker to speak at a Public Forum, even though the request was made within time and standing orders provides for the opportunity to extend the Public Forum (section F2). It is not mandatory for the Chairperson to have a resolution of the meeting to extend public forum as the discretion sits with the Chairperson before the meeting commences to accept or decline speakers. As regards the prioritisation of public forum speakers for those talking to agenda items, the priority of speaking is set at the time the public forum content is confirmed.

For the reasons above, I have concluded that there has been no breach of the Council’s standing orders and that therefore no breach of the code of conduct has occurred in this case.

Agenda papers are available on the Council website on the Wednesday evening prior to the Council meeting (in this case on 9 December 2015) and I would encourage you to give earlier notice of your wish to speak to ensure that you do have an opportunity to speak to agenda items at future meetings.

I have copied the original recipients of your email in my response to you.

Regards,

Chris Staynes.

Sent from my iPad Pro

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Dear Ms Yeldon,
This email is to confirm that I have received your Code of Conduct complaint and I am considering the matters raised, once I have completed this I will get back in touch with you.

Regards,

Chris Staynes.

Sent from my iPad Pro

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On 17/12/2015, at 6:30 AM, Diane Yeldon wrote:

Dear Cr Staynes, I wish to make a Code of Conduct complaint against Mayor Cull. At the last full meeting of the council (14th December, 2015), I had given notice to Pam Jordan (Governance) that I wished to speak at Public Forum. When she told me that the meeting was heavily booked I said I would withdraw because my topic (support for alternative transport modes) was not time dependent. Then at 9.00 am I attended the continuation of the adjourned previous council meeting and saw the agenda for the meeting of the 14th. It is a matter of record that I made an official information request about the Procurement Policy which was being developed by the Risk and Audit Subcommittee with virtually all meetings and all meeting content in non-public. Grace Ockwell responded by telling me that the proposed policy would be public when it went to a council meeting. So the morning of 14th Dec was my first chance to see this proposed policy (although I could have seen it a few days earlier when the agenda became public if I had known to look but Grace never told me WHICH meeting it would be going to).

So [I] asked Pam Jordan if I could speak at Public Forum to that agenda item because it was the only chance I could possibly get. What I wanted to ask the council was for the policy to be open to public submissions because the whole process had been totally non-transparent. There had been considerable public comment on Mr Epere with his criminal background getting a council contract after asking at a public forum (surely not in the first place an appropriate use of a council public forum to ask for personal advantage!). There had also been considerable public interest in the [Citifleet] fraud with the main question being, “Where is the independent oversight of in-house council activities to prevent fraud?”

There had been further public interest in the issue of the contracted out mudtank cleaning with the public revelation that the contracted service had no sucker truck in Dunedin so clearly could not have been doing the work all the time. Then there was further public comment from an arborist who [publicly] said that the tree felling at Logan Park cost the Council far too much. Then a local painter, Dean Kelly, publicly said he was unfairly deprived of council contracts because they always went to the ‘big guys’.

This last comment raises the issue of whether the council should prefer local contractors over outsider to the city to stimulate the local economy and, further break up contracts into smaller chunks so that smaller local businesses can get a look in (when times are hard, the odd council job may stop them from going under). Further to this, there was the Public Forum submission of Ms Annaliese de Groote who asked that the DCC have a policy of giving work opportunities to people with disabilities.

All of the above matters are in the public interest and warrant discussion by the community they affect.

Standing Orders require councillors to value participation and engagement in council matters from members of the public. Standing Orders also provide for setting aside 60 minutes of a council meeting for public forum speakers. If the 60 minutes is used up, then Standing Orders allow the meeting chair to put it to the meeting that public forum be extended. I was the only further speaker at that meeting (14th Dec). Mayor Cull knew I wanted to speak to the agenda item (17) of the Proposed Procurement Policy. He also knew it was the only possible opportunity I or any member of the public would be able to comment on it because it was not going to be open for public submissions and was going to be decided at that very meeting.

Other Public Forum speakers who were not speaking to an agenda item preceded me. I am sure if the question of whether public forum might be extended (only by five minutes) to allow me to speak to an agenda item had been put to the meeting that the meeting would have agreed.

So the conclusion I come to is that Mayor Cull does not value input and engagement from members of the public. He does not do what he can to promote it. And so by his actions towards me at the last council meeting he has not upheld the Council’s Code of Conduct.

I have read the procedure for Code of Conduct complaints in the Appendix to the Dunedin City Council’s Standing Orders and I await your further instructions on carrying out this process.

Sincerely
Diane Yeldon

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█ Dunedin City Council – Standing Orders (PDF, 856 KB)
28 Oct 2015: The Standing Orders set out rules for the conduct meetings of the Dunedin City Council and includes the Code of Conduct for Elected Members, as adopted at the inaugural Council meeting Oct 2010.

█ Committee Structures and Delegations Manual (PDF, 557 KB)
21 Apr 2015: This document details the constitution of the Council, Committees and Subcommittees, and the delegations to the Chief Executive.

Tabled at the full Council meeting on Monday 14 December:
█ Report – Council – 14/12/2015 (PDF, 143.8 KB)
Procurement Policy (Proposed), December 2015

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC Citifleet: Police finishing final report

### ODT Online Wed, 16 Sep 2015
Final Citifleet fraud report not finished
By Chris Morris
Dunedin police are still working to finalise a report into the $1.5 million Citifleet fraud, despite announcing in June no charges would be laid, it has been confirmed. The development came as it was confirmed an earlier police report into the Dunedin City Council’s long-running fraud was released to media despite internal concerns from senior police it was out of date, emails showed.
Read more

● The Department of Internal Affairs was keeping a close eye on the Dunedin City Council’s handling of the Citifleet fraud investigation, documents show. (ODT)

█ For more, enter the terms *citifleet*, *bachop*, *bidrose* or *vandervis* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC Citifleet: Council steered off SFO investigation

Link received.
Mon, 7 Sep 2015 at 9:47 p.m.

█ Message: Spot the difference – a Maori group gets the SFO while Dunedin Ratepayers get a lowly detective.

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### NZ Herald Online 3:59 PM Monday Sep 7, 2015
Tertiary funding probe: SFO called in as centre agrees to pay back $7.5 million
By Steve Deane
A senior manager is dead and a Serious Fraud Office investigation has been launched following a probe into an agricultural college that uncovered millions of dollars of unjustified taxpayer funding.
The results of a Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) investigation into funding irregularities at Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre were released this afternoon following investigations by the Herald.
Taratahi’s former chief executive, Dr Donovan Wearing, died suddenly in January – three months after the TEC confirmed it was undertaking a ‘targeted review’ of the organisation.
The Herald has been told Dr Wearing addressed staff at the sprawling campus just outside Masterton about the investigation on January 21. The 52-year-old father of six was later found in a critical condition in a shed on campus grounds. He was taken to Wellington Hospital where he died at 10.30pm.
Dr Wearing’s death has been referred to the coroner.
Read more

█ For more, enter the terms *citifleet*, *deloitte*, *vandervis*, *detectives* and *bidrose* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC AMAZE —oh, more fraud

DCC CULTURE OF ENTITLEMENT
‘Enormously disappointing’ —And Enormously Expected.
‘ONE MAN’ did it. An outright fairytale.
DOLLY didn’t, either. More to come !!

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### ODT Online Mon, 10 Aug 2015
Further cases of fraud at council
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council says the discovery of five more examples of fraud and theft inside the organisation is “enormously” disappointing. […] Details of the smaller incidents emerged last week, in response to Otago Daily Times questions, a year after the discovery of the Citifleet fraud.
Read more

█ ODT blocks public comments to this item.

ODT 10.8.15 [Source: DCC]

[screenshot]

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Related Posts and Comments:
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4.8.15 Hundreds of DCC Staff receive fraud detection/prevention training
28.7.15 DCC tender fraud includes Citifleet —not for discussion
23.7.15 Publicise: laudafinem.com
207.15 Noble property subdivision —DELTA #LGOIMA
13.7.15 Jeff Dickie: Edinburgh tough, Dunedin (DUD)
4.7.15 DCC Citifleet, [a] Deloitte report leaked
25.6.15 DCC Citifleet COVERUP #screwy
17.6.15 Citifleet: ‘Checkpoint’ interviews Dave Cull
4.5.15 Cr Lee Vandervis: Why I continue to vote. #email
1.5.15 Cr Vandervis unlikely to quit several missions #coverup #naturaljustice
24.3.15 Noble property subdivision —DELTA
23.3.15 Noble property subdivision: “Denials suggest that we have not learned.”
17.3.15 DCC —Delta, Jacks Point Luggate II….
3.1.15 DCC: Street talk NEVER HAPPENED
28.4.15 Today at DCC in pictures
24.4.15 DCC re Dr Bidrose’s time as most senior Citifleet Manager
23.4.15 DCC severely FAILS councillor #naturaljustice #contempt
18.3.15 Lee Vandervis releases emails #Citifleet investigation
13.3.15 Cr Vandervis: LGOIMA request – Citifleet … Deloitte Report
24.12.14 Dunedin: Watching the detectives
1.12.14 Stadium Review: LGOIMA request and 2009 Town Hall speeches
18.12.14 DCC: Deloitte report released on Citifleet
21.11.14 Stadium Review: Mayor Cull exposed
19.11.14 Forsyth Barr Stadium Review
1.9.14 DCC Fraud: Further official information in reply to Cr Vandervis
30.8.14 DCC Fraud: Cr Vandervis … urgent need for facts and record to be public
27.8.14 DCC whitewash on serious fraud, steals democracy from citizens
22.8.14 DCC: Deloitte report referred to the police #Citifleet
3.7.14 Stuff: Alleged vehicle fraud at DCC
1.7.14 DCC: Far-reaching fraud investigation Citifleet
28.5.14 DCC: Audit and risk subcommittee
20.3.14 Delta: Report from Office of the Auditor-General
19.3.14 ORFU: Black-tie dinner, theft or fraud?
26.2.14 DCC: New audit and risk subcommittee a little too late !!
14.2.14 DCC: Broadband AND bicycles #fraudband speed
1.12.13 Secret Commissions Act aka ‘Backhanders Law’

█ For more, enter the terms *deloitte*, *citifleet*, *fraud*, *conduct*, *vandervis*, *delta*, *orfu* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC: LGOIMA requests for the last month

Received from Lee Vandervis
‎Tue‎, ‎21‎ ‎Jul‎ ‎2015 ‎at 8‎:‎24‎ ‎p.m.

[screenshot — click to enlarge]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

WCC’s free lunch for a car | Vandervis challenges DCC legal advice

Received.
‎Tue‎, ‎26‎ ‎May‎ ‎2015 ‎at 8‎:‎10‎ ‎a.m.

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 05:00, May 26 2015
Editorial: Councillors don’t deserve a free lunch
OPINION: It is odd that Wellington City Councillors think the ratepayers owe them a free lunch. They don’t. Councillors say they don’t have time to go out and get lunch, so they must carry on working without it. “People have been getting grumpy,” explains Councillor Andy Foster. Therefore, the ratepayers must provide lunch. This argument is truly ridiculous. It means, apparently, that the politicians are incapable of doing what everyone else does, which is to have lunch within the usual times. They will say, of course, that they are busier than the other people. […] The councillors are in the difficult position that two years ago they scrapped free lunches, partly as a cost-cutting measure and partly as a sign that they were willing to share the pain. If those arguments were valid then, they are still valid now. So consider the cost-cutting argument. Officials are now recommending a 5.1 per cent increase in rates in 2015. Part of this will be $20,000 for councillors’ free lunches. This is about half of what the councillors’ free lunches used to cost before they scrapped them in 2013. Some will say this is a reasonable “compromise”. […] Councillors might now argue that $20,000 is a piffling amount in the context of the capital city’s budget, and of course it is. But suppose a burglar stole a car worth $20,000 from the city council’s fleet. This is also a trifling sum in the context of the city’s property assets. Would the councillors wink at that too?
Read more

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Tears, spats and squabbles (note ODT url for the following item)….

### ODT Online Tue, 26 May 2015
Vandervis ‘contesting voting ban’
By Chris Morris
Dunedin city councillor Lee Vandervis says he has begun a legal challenge to reclaim his lost voting rights, although senior council staff remain in the dark about the details. His move came as yesterday’s full council meeting descended into increasingly bitter exchanges, most involving Cr Vandervis, who told one councillor to leave town and was advised by another to “shut up”.
Cr Vandervis, speaking at yesterday’s meeting, maintained the voting ban was “ultra vires”, as a councillor’s right to vote was “sacrosanct”. He also took exception to the accuracy of meeting minutes purporting to record the decision to remove his voting rights, as well as subsequent committee meetings.
Read more at http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/343501/tears-spats-and-squabbles

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Cr Vandervis said the council’s real success in the Warehouse Precinct had been to “get out of the way” of private developers.

### ODT Online Tue, 26 May 2015
DCC approval for Exchange work
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council is to press ahead with a $1.1 million plan to revamp Exchange Square and create new car-free zones in the Warehouse Precinct. Councillors at yesterday’s full council meeting voted to approve both projects for public consultation over the next few months, which could be followed by construction later this year.
Read more

● ODT: Council may bring forward Exchange works
● ODT: Jetty St pedestrian area proposed

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█ Report – Council – 25/05/2015 (PDF, 1004.9 KB)
Renewal and Upgrade of Exchange Square

█ Report – Council – 25/05/2015 (PDF, 2.8 MB)
Proposed Restriction of Vehicles From Sections of Jetty Street

Other information:
● Dunedin Central City Plan (all documents)
● Exchange Square Upgrade
● Urbanismplus: Dunedin Central City Framework (PDF, 9.7 MB)
This full report provides justification for a better city centre, a vision for the city centre, some strategic direction and finally an implementation plan. October 2011.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin City not the only council with a code of silence

Received.
‎Sun, ‎24‎ ‎May‎ ‎2015 at ‎2‎:‎43‎ ‎p.m.

A Massey researcher is concerned that some local councils are gagging their elected members and stifling free speech.

Source: Massey University Te Kunenga Ki Purehuroa

Created: 02/12/2014 | Last updated: 16/12/2014
Councils’ conduct codes gag elected members
Dr Catherine Strong from the School Communication, Journalism and Marketing, says there is a disturbing paragraph creeping into some councils’ operating policies.
“It basically prevents elected members talking to the media about anything negative within their council. This includes council decisions, policies and overall reputations,” she says.
The research will be presented at the Journalism Education Association of New Zealand Conference in Christchurch on Thursday, and is a content analysis of codes of conduct of all 67 city and district councils in New Zealand.
While most councils clearly stated that elected members have the right to talk freely to the media (with obvious restrictions around confidential information and employment practices), the research found that 10 councils (15 per cent) restrict elected members giving critical opinion to the media.
This amounts to gagging the elected members – the very people who are representing the community, Dr Strong says. “They are not meant to be spin doctors for the council.” She suspects newly-elected councillors approve the entire 4000 word code of conduct without scrutinising the wording of the small media section within it.
Read more

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Dunedin City Council – Standing Orders (PDF, 1018 KB)
12 Aug 2014: The Standing Orders set out rules for the conduct meetings of the Dunedin City Council and includes the Code of Conduct for Elected Members, as adopted at the inaugural Council meeting Oct 2010.

█ For more, enter the terms *code*, *vandervis*, *naturaljustice*, and *citifleet* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Cr Lee Vandervis: Why I continue to vote. #email

Received.

From: Lee Vandervis
Sent: ‎Monday‎, ‎4‎ ‎May‎ ‎2015 ‎3‎:‎59‎ ‎p.m.
To: Chris Morris, Elizabeth Kerr, Andrew Noone, Andrew Whiley, Chris Staynes, Doug Hall, Hilary Calvert, John Bezett, Jinty MacTavish, Kate Wilson, Lee Vandervis, Mayor Cull, Mike Lord, Neville Peat, Richard Thomson, David Benson-Pope, Aaron Hawkins, Sue Bidrose, Sandy Graham, News [Ch39]
Subject: Why I continue to vote.

Dear Mr Morris,

Mayor Cull’s ambushed change to the Council Code of Conduct resolution item claims that my apology on which my responsibility for being able to vote apparently hangs “is to be judged by the CEO or her delegate.”

Standing Orders J4.2 clearly says that Council may take Code of Conduct action against a member by means of a three-fourths majority of those present, and the action taken was to demand a genuine apology which I have provided.
I can only genuinely apologise as far as the evidence I am allowed to see permits.
Standing Orders does not empower a CEO’s delegate to rule on the appropriateness of my apology which ruling has the effect of denying my responsibility to vote on behalf of the thousands of Dunedin people that voted for me. That is for Councillors to decide and they have not been given that opportunity.
My legal advice is that there is no legal basis for the Code of Conduct censure being delegated to the DCC chief accountant.
Councillors must vote for such a Code of Conduct action and I believe that Mayor Cull knows he does not have the Councillor numbers to vote for such an action.

Consequently I will continue to vote as before, and it is up to staff whether my votes are properly recorded.
All of this is on the back of a constantly corrupted Code of Conduct process where I have not been allowed to see the evidential statements made against me from Councillors or from CEO Bidrose, and have therefore been unable to defend myself against those evidential statements.
I have obtained consistent legal advice from two different sources in addition to ex-lawyer Cr. Calvert’s opinion printed in the ODT, and these sources do not want the DCC to know who they are as they believe that may prejudice their opportunities for other work in Dunedin. I do not intend to sue Mayor Cull or Council at this stage as I am still hopeful of getting the Deloitte’s information that would be pivotal in any Citifleet fraud cases brought.
I am still not permitted to see the Deloitte Citifleet fraud investigation evidence which would allow me to establish whether Police have in fact, recently investigated appropriately or not.
Time will tell who has been misleading who regarding the Citifleet frauds issue of substance.

Regards,
Cr. Vandervis

█ For more, enter the terms *vandervis*, *cull*, *bidrose*, *citifleet* or *deloitte* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Hmmmmmm #DCC

Received from TQoFE
Mon, 4 May 2015 at 2:49 p.m.

█ Message: Sorry Dr Bidrose, but that Big Question still remains to be answered…

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC Representation: LEGAL to remove ELECTED Councillor voting rights ??

Comments received today:

Anonymous
Submitted on 2015/05/02 at 2:07 pm

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Anonymous
Submitted on 2015/05/02 at 8:11 p.m.

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Dunedin City Council
Councillor Lee Vandervis has had his voting rights removed for two months:

Meeting of the Dunedin City Council on Tuesday, 28 April 2015 at 1:00 PM, Council Chamber, Municipal Chambers

█ Agenda – Council – 28/04/2015 (PDF, 96.6 KB)

█ Report – Council – 28/04/2015 (PDF, 172.7 KB)
Conduct Committee Report to Council

█ Download: Conduct Committee Resolution 28 April 2015

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Cr Vandervis unlikely to quit several missions #coverup #naturaljustice

From ‘City’ colleague with an eye for the law, Wikipedia definition
Fri, 1 May 2015 at 11:00 a.m.

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### ODT Online Fri, 1 May 2015
Apology lacking; voting rights go
By Chris Morris
Dunedin city councillor Lee Vandervis has been stripped of his voting rights after failing to apologise before a 24-hour deadline. […] In a statement last night, council group chief financial officer Grant McKenzie said Cr Vandervis was suspended from all council committees from today until July 1.
Read more

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[Cr Hilary Calvert] questioned the council’s right to delegate to council staff any final judgement on whether Cr Vandervis’ apology was appropriate, arguing that was a call for councillors to make.

“The process was open and fair, and, as far as I’m concerned, completely in accordance with proper meeting procedure. I question the motivation in quibbling about it now.” –Mayor Dave Cull

### ODT Online Fri, 1 May 2015
Mayor dismisses legality questions
By Chris Morris
Mayor Dave Cull has a one-word response to questions about the legality of stripping Cr Lee Vandervis of voting rights: “Whatever.” Mr Cull’s abrupt response came in an email to Cr Hilary Calvert yesterday, as she questioned whether the council had followed proper process when considering its punishment of Cr Vandervis.
Read more

█ For more, enter the terms *vandervis*, *cull*, *bidrose*, *citifleet* or *deloitte* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: Cover-up image by whatifdunedin with acknowledgement to Wikipedia

Burn Robbie Burn!

Received from TQoFE
Thu, 30 Apr 2015 at 12.40 p.m.

Calvin Oaten
Submitted on 2015/04/30 at 9:38 am

That guy sitting on his pedestal in the upper Octagon (you know, him wearing all that seagull crap) must be quietly wondering what is going on in this Edinburgh of the south.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Cr Vandervis offers full (and conditional!) apology

Last updated Wed, 29 Apr 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
Updated post Wed, 29 Apr 2015 at 6:12 p.m.

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Received.

From: Lee Vandervis
Sent: ‎Wednesday‎, ‎29 ‎April‎ ‎2015 ‎4:22‎ ‎p.m.
To: Sue Bidrose, Sandy Graham, Susie Johnstone, Grant McKenzie, Andrew Noone, Andrew Whiley, Chris Staynes, Doug Hall, Hilary Calvert, John Bezett, Jinty MacTavish, Kate Wilson, Lee Vandervis, Mayor Cull, Mike Lord, Neville Peat, Richard Thomson, David Benson-Pope, Aaron Hawkins
Cc: Chris Morris [ODT], Elizabeth Kerr [What if? Dunedin], Ian Telfer [RNZ], News [Dunedin TV, Ch39], Morning Report [RNZ], Murray Kirkness [ODT], Vaughan Elder [ODT], EditorODT [ODT]
Subject: Remorseful apology to CEO Bidrose, Sandy Graham, A&R members, Mayor Cull and Councillors

Dear CEO Bidrose, Ms Graham, Ms Johnstone, Mr McKenzie, and elected representatives,

I unreservedly acknowledge that my loudness behaviour to CEO Bidrose in the Council hallway [3/2/15], and my loudness in the non-public Audit and Risk meeting of [3/12/14] was wrong, unacceptable and in breach of the Code of Conduct. I am genuinely remorseful that I upset people with my loudness and that my initial apology was insufficient. I undertake to do my utmost to ensure that I do not repeat such behaviour.

I am also prepared to unreservedly apologise for misleading the Audit and Risk committee regarding the narrowing of the Citifleet fraud investigations, but can only do this in good faith if any dated hard evidence is available to show that the narrowed investigation revealed six months after the Citifleet manager’s death, was in fact widened, and that active investigators did not continue to misinterpret management instructions.

Recognising that such hard evidence may be difficult to locate within the 24 hours allowed for my apology, I am nevertheless prepared to make such an unreserved apology if I am given the full Citifleet Deloittes investigation report, staff report and Deloittes’ digitised DCC evidential files which until now have been refused me on the grounds of an ongoing Police investigation. Giving me this information on a strictly confidential basis as requested last November would indeed allow me to verify with hard evidence, how much the investigation had been limited, and the extent of any misleading.

I am happy to sign a confidentiality affidavit not to release or use any of the Deloittes’ Citifleet Fraud information until the Police investigation process has been completed. Only then would I consider any ratepayer value in pursuing private prosecutions that might be supported by the Deloittes information.

Yours sincerely,

Cr. Lee Vandervis

[ends]

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From: Hilary Calvert
Sent: Wednesday, 29 April 2015 5:14 p.m.
To: Lee Vandervis
Cc: Sue Bidrose, Sandy Graham, Susie Johnstone, Grant McKenzie, Andrew Noone, Andrew Whiley, Chris Staynes, Doug Hall, Hilary Calvert, John Bezett, Jinty MacTavish, Kate Wilson, Lee Vandervis, Mayor Cull, Mike Lord, Neville Peat, Richard Thomson, David Benson-Pope, Aaron Hawkins, Chris Morris [ODT], Elizabeth Kerr [What if? Dunedin], Ian Telfer [RNZ], News [Dunedin TV, Ch39], Morning Report [RNZ], Murray Kirkness [ODT], Vaughan Elder [ODT], EditorODT [ODT]
Subject: RE: Remorseful apology to CEO Bidrose, Sandy Graham, A&R members, Mayor Cull and Councillors

Considering the assurance given today at Audit and Risk it should be easy to arrange hard copy evidence of the widening as requested. 
Great result all round.

Sent from my iPhone

[ends]

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BUREAUCRACY STRIKES FROM CEO AND GROUP CFO DOWN

From: Grant McKenzie
Sent: ‎Wednesday‎, ‎29‎ ‎April‎ ‎2015 ‎6‎:‎10‎ ‎p.m.
To: Lee Vandervis, Sue Bidrose, Sandy Graham, Susie Johnstone, Andrew Noone, Andrew Whiley, Chris Staynes, Doug Hall, Hilary Calvert, John Bezett, Jinty MacTavish, Kate Wilson, Mayor Cull, Mike Lord, Neville Peat, Richard Thomson, David Benson-Pope, Aaron Hawkins
Cc: Chris Morris, Elizabeth Kerr, Ian Telfer, News, Morning Report, Murray Kirkness, Vaughan Elder, EditorODT

Dear Councillor Vandervis

I am in receipt of your email entitled ”remorseful apology to CEO Bidrose, Sandy Graham, A&R members, Mayor Cull and Councillors” and provide the following response as the officer delegated by the Chief Executive:

For the breaches relating to the “loudness behaviour” relating to Dr Bidrose and the Audit and Risk Committee, it is my assessment paragraph 1 of your apology meets the requirements of the Council resolution.

In relation to “misleading the Audit and Risk Committee” I assess that the apology in paragraph 2 and following do not meet the requirements of the Council resolution because:

a) there are 2 apologies, that are both contingent on being provided with further evidence.
b) there is no acknowledgement that the behaviour was wrong, unacceptable and in breach of the code of conduct.
c) there is no commitment not to repeat such behaviour.

The Council resolution requires that an “appropriate apology for all breaches” is required. While your email goes someway to meeting the requirements of the resolution, it does not adequately cover the Audit and Risk Subcommittee matter. The resolution provided a twenty four hour window for any apology for all breaches. If you wish to resubmit your email in light of my comments above, then I will reconsider your response.

I note that you have once again requested full copies of the Deloitte Report and associated documents. This request was previously considered under the provisions of LGOIMA and the withholding grounds that were applied at that time remain. Your rights to have this decision reviewed by the Office of the Ombudsman is still available.

Regards

Grant

Grant McKenzie
Group Chief Financial Officer, Financial Services
Dunedin City Council

[ends]

█ For more, enter the terms *vandervis*, *cull*, *bidrose*, *citifleet* or *deloitte* in the search box at right.

Big Game hunting season opens at #DUD

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: acting-man.com – Approach (tweaked by whatifdunedin); galleryhip.com – Kangaroo Jumping

The ol’ BP Gag treatment revisited….

Received from TQoFE
Wed, 29 Apr 2015 at 1:24 p.m.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC reality check —‘CEO Bidrose confirms no Vandervis complaint with a hug’

Received from Lee Vandervis
Sun, 15 Feb 2015 at 7:08 p.m.

—— Forwarded Message
From: Lee Vandervis
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2015 19:07:29 +1300
To: Chris Morris [ODT], Debbie Porteous [ODT], EditorODT, Nick Smith [ODT]
Conversation: CEO Bidrose confirms no Vandervis complaint with a hug.
Subject: CEO Bidrose confirms no Vandervis complaint with a hug.

Dear Chris and Co,

CEO Bidrose has this weekend confirmed in public, with a hug, that she has not made any complaint of me, that she was out of town when she received my latest email alerting her to a legal issue in the non-public section of the Council meeting underway when we spoke in the hallway, and that her secretary had not read through the email to the legal issue and alerted her prior to the meeting in which Mayor Cull attempted to push the issue through.
The legal issue related to Mayor Cull’s false claim that he was personally empowered to select the membership of the Code of Conduct Committee [against me], when this power is clearly that of the whole Council as detailed in Standing Orders J4.1 and in the Committee Structure and Delegations Manual.
This came on top of Mayor Cull’s falsely claiming statements supposedly made by me at the 3/11/14 Council meeting, and his then immediately demanding that I withdraw these statements which I did not make. Mayor Cull then used my refusal to withdraw the statements as a pretext to eject me from the meeting, all of which the video proves. This was the essence of my Code of Conduct Complaint against Mayor Cull of 10/12/14. Two subsequent Code of Conduct Complaints against me by Greater Dunedin Chairpersons do not mention any swearing or expletives and seem to be personal ‘tone’ attacks to deflect from on-going Mayoral abuses of his position and the Mayor’s attempts to silence my concerns.

Kind regards,
Cr. Lee Vandervis

PS Chris – You are back to recorded medium only comment from me. You have again invented news rather than honestly reporting it.
—— End of Forwarded Message

Related Posts and Comments:
6.2.15 Cr Lee Vandervis apology
5.1.15 DCC: Chairman denies true and correct Council record

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Cr Lee Vandervis apology

● ODT 4.2.15 Formal complaint to be laid against Vandervis
● ODT 6.2.15 Vandervis offers apology; Wilson unmoved

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Received from Lee Vandervis
Fri, 6 Feb 2015 at 9:04 p.m.

Message: Since the ODT did not print my apology, but just chose to interpret bits of it, the apology as below may be of interest.

—— Forwarded Message
From: Lee Vandervis
Date: Wed, 04 Feb 2015 21:22:32 +1300
To: Sue Bidrose, Sandy Graham, Andrew Noone, Andrew Whiley, Chris Staynes, Doug Hall, Hilary Calvert, John Bezett, Jinty MacTavish, Kate Wilson, Lee Vandervis, Mayor Cull, Mike Lord, Neville Peat, Richartd Thomson, David Benson-Pope, Aaron Hawkins
Cc: Chris Morris [ODT], Debbie Porteous [ODT]
Conversation: Apology for hallway loudness
Subject: Apology for hallway loudness

Dear Sue, Sandy and Councillors.

If it was thought that my Council hallway questioning of CEO Bidrose yesterday was considered to be too loud or inappropriate, I unreservedly apologize to those who thought so, especially if that included Dr. Bidrose.
I recognise today that I had become increasingly frustrated with the lack of CEO response to my earlier emailed governance complaints, and that an unacceptable Council agenda item was imminent as a result.
Happily some time was subsequently allowed for possible resolution of the Governance issues I complained of.
To prevent a recurrence of overheard unpleasantness, I undertake to make any future complaints of staff or elected representatives in a recorded medium.

Kind regards,
Cr. Lee Vandervis
—— End of Forwarded Message

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Related Post and Comments:
5.1.15 DCC: Chairman denies true and correct Council record

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr