Horowhenua's mayor has failed to win over his colleagues who successfully brought a vote of no confidence against him this morning.
Michael Feyen won the mayoralty last year, but his relationship with councillors and the council's chief executive remains spotty.
The motion, tabled by the Deputy Mayor Wayne Bishop, reads: "as elected members we have no confidence in Mayor Feyen to lead us the Horowhenua District Council, to represent us or our community, to honour the obligations of the sworn oath or to discharge the legislative responsibilities, trusts and confidence bestowed upon the Office of Mayor”.
The council's chief executive, David Clapperton, said seven councillors voted in favour, one against, and Mr Feyen abstained.
The vote is unlikely to have any effect however, as the government's Local Councils website states "mayors, like councillors, are elected by their district for a three-year term.
"Mayors cannot be removed from office by the council," the website reads.
Today's "extraordinary council meeting" had to be called after nine councillors staged a walk out at last week's meeting.
The meeting had to be abandoned due to a lack of quorum, and the remaining items on the agenda were deferred.
The deputy mayor Wayne Bishop said he wanted to "formally record his concerns" about Mr Feyen's performance in the role.
"While I recognise the mayor is elected at large… I am of the opinion that a divisive, unprofessional, and frankly dishonourable behaviour of the mayor can no longer continue without some form of consequence," Mr Bishop said.
The mayor had been blurring the lines between management and governance, and was pursuing personal vendettas against other councillors and the chief executive through the media, Mr Bishop said.
Councillor Ross Campbell said "the accusations against you are not the feeling of the whole community".
The vote of no confidence comes after a tumultuous 13 months for Mr Feyen.
Mr Feyen is no longer allowed to speak directly with Mr Clapperton without supervision; a special committee has been set up to mediate their discussions.
His initial attempts to appoint Ross Campbell, his only ally around the council table, as deputy mayor failed when the other nine councillors voted Mr Campbell out, putting Mr Bishop in his place.
Furious, Mr Feyen did not accept the vote, insisting Mr Campbell was still the deputy.
In the end, the former Local Government Minister Anne Tolley had to step in, explain the law, and tell him that Mr Bishop was in fact the deputy.
In July, a leaked internal audit report showed Mr Clapperton had been intercepting the emails of people the council had blacklisted, including Mr Feyen when he was a councillor.
The report labelled the practice as extremely high risk and the interceptions have since stopped.
Shortly after winning the mayoralty, Mr Feyen said the council building was unsafe and could be an earthquake risk.
The council paid for fresh building assessments but they did not confirm Mr Feyen's fears.
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