Invercargill city councillors have rejected the findings of a $33,000 independent investigation which found deputy mayor Grant Dermody said “you f…ing d..k” or “you’re a d…head” and breached the council's code of conduct.
By Matthew Rosenberg for Local Democracy Reporting
On February 3, Dermody attended a Rugby Park stakeholders event where it was alleged by councillors Ria Bond, Darren Ludlow and Alex Crackett that he directed foul language at a council staffer.
The language was never heard by the staff member, and the complaint was lodged by a councillor who was not in attendance — Ian Pottinger.
Dermody maintained he had said “that’s ridiculous” to someone he did not know at another table, albeit in an aggressive manner.
On Tuesday, the majority of councillors determined the council's code of conduct had not been materially breached at a special meeting held to discuss the matter.
Councillor Lisa Tou-McNaughton expressed disappointment over the time, money and resources spent.
“It sees us mitigating an alleged comment that is several different versions. I’ve read the information presented numerous times and find there to be an inconsistency in the evidence presented,” she said.
“There are four different versions of what was believed to be heard.”
Tou-McNaughton attended the Rugby Park meeting and explained Dermody had said “that’s ridiculous” in a frustrated tone, but did not believe it was aimed at the staffer.
Councillor Steve Broad said he had been sitting no more than 2.5m to 3m away from Dermody on the day and had also heard “that’s ridiculous” in a frustrated tone.
“So I’ve asked myself in navigating this, how much weight can we reasonably place on words that were briefly uttered, inconsistently heard by those closest to them, not heard by the person they were allegedly directed at, or the person that has issued this complaint?” he asked.
Broad said there was potential politicking at play and felt information had been shared and spread which did not need to be passed on.
Councillor Barry Stewart said he was “99% sure” he was sitting beside Dermody on the day and did not hear him, while Trish Boyle and Andrea de Vries also confirmed Dermody had said “that’s ridiculous”.
De Vries said that how an issue was dealt with mattered as much as the issue itself, and questioned if the council was “content with being liturgist by nature”.
Marcus Lush expressed discomfort at going against the findings of a report which the council had paid for.
Mayor Tom Campbell pointed out the lawyer had not interviewed members who had explicitly heard what Dermody said.
Councillors Dermody, Pottinger, Bond, Crackett and Ludlow were not present at the meeting because they were considered to be conflicted, Campbell said.
How did the code of conduct complaint unfold?
On February 3, a Rugby Park stakeholders meeting was held at the venue’s lounge with all councillors invited to attend, a council report said.
Seventeen days later, council chief executive Michael Day received a code of conduct complaint from councillor Pottinger which said although he had not attended the meeting, he had been made aware of a “d..khead” comment from councillor Bond.
The matter was then investigated by Anderson Lloyd lawyer Michael Garbett who included evidence from Bond, Ludlow and Dermody in his 20 March report.
Bond’s evidence included that Dermody had said “bull…t” and “that’s ridiculous” during the presentation and later aimed “you’re a d…head” at the staffer.
Ludlow was confident he had heard an “f-bomb” but was not certain if the comment was “f…wit” or “f…ing d..k”.
The council officer had not heard any "inappropriate utterance" from Dermody but said he was approached by Crackett directly after the presentation telling him Dermody “had called you a f…ing d..k”, Garbett wrote.
Ludlow and Bond also spoke to the staffer following the presentation.
When Garbett asked Dermody if he had called the staffer a “d…head”, the deputy mayor responded: “I never said d…head”.
He also denied saying “f…ing d..k” and rejected Bond’s account that he had uttered “bull…t”, “ridiculous” and “you’re a d…head” at the staffer.
Dermody maintained he had said “that’s ridiculous” in an aggressive tone, but not loudly, when someone at a nearby indicated Franklin was in Southland.
Garbett wrote in his report that witnesses had explained Dermody was visibly unhappy about the presentation, which was the context of his comment.
He determined on the balance of probabilities that Dermody had said “you f…ing d..k” or “you’re a d…head” to a staff member during the presentation, and that the code of conduct had been breached.
Council staff confirmed during Tuesday’s meeting that the cost of the investigation was currently sitting at $33,000 including GST, with one invoice still to come.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
SHARE ME