Mayor criticises ACT councillors for motion copied from another council

Marlborough’s mayor has criticised the district’s two ACT Party councillors for filing an ACT-affiliated motion that was originally intended for another council.

By Kira Carrington of Local Democracy Reporting

Malcolm Taylor filed the notice of motion in June, and it was seconded by John Hyndman, but was withdrawn when it reached the council table last Thursday.

A notice of motion is a way for councillors to bring an issue to the council table which they believe requires a council decision.

Taylor’s motion proposed more rigorous requirements for reports presented to councillors, such as mandatory sections on how decisions impacted rates, professional assessments from staff, and an outline of alternatives, with fewer opportunities to leave sections blank.

But the motion acknowledged that almost all the suggested improvements were things the Marlborough District Council was already doing.

The motion also included a reference to Far North District Council.

Mayor Nadine Taylor told Local Democracy Reporting she was unhappy about the motion because it was filed without the councillors first approaching her about their concerns.

There were many ways councillors could contribute to changing internal processes without a notice of motion, she said.

It was "clearly a party document" that "didn’t bring any benefit to Marlborough", she said.

"I certainly prefer Marlborough councillors to focus on Marlborough issues and Marlborough matters."

At the meeting, Malcolm Taylor told councillors he had withdrawn the motion because a local government amendment bill that did "everything this notice of motion asked for" had just passed its first reading in Parliament.

He said the motion had been written by law firm Franks Ogilvie for another council.

The mayor said with the notice withdrawn, there was no reason for any further discussion.

But councillor Gerald Hope said he thought councillors should have their say on the motion, as its appearance at the council table was "unprecedented in [his] time around the table".

Councillor Deborah Dalliessi also put her hand up to speak about the motion.

The mayor said the council’s standing orders, rules that governed how council meetings were run, did not allow councillors to debate a withdrawn motion.

An early recess was called so the mayor could take legal advice on whether a debate could be held.

About five minutes later the meeting resumed, with the mayor saying there was no way for councillors to debate on the motion.

Hope declined to comment when approached by LDR.

Malcolm Taylor later told LDR that he obtained the motion from Far North ACT councillor Davina Smoulders, who had hosted a Zoom meeting where the motion was distributed to a network of councillors across the country.

He filed the motion to the Marlborough council the next day, he said.

Malcolm Taylor said he wanted to ensure the proposed improvements became mandatory rather than just best practice.

He claimed at least five other councillors had voiced support for the motion.

"I think if I had proceeded with it, it would have passed," he said.

The mayor said she was disappointed Malcolm Taylor had declined to provide more information about the motion when it was first filed, so council staff had to fill in the gaps prior to the motion being withdrawn.

"[That] really does tie up a lot of time and resources from council staff, at a time when I would prefer to support council staff to be doing the work that they need to do."

Dalliessi told LDR she had supported the motion, but only learned it was drafted by an external party when Malcolm Taylor disclosed it at the meeting.

The motion’s true author and party-affiliation should have been disclosed when it was filed, Dalliessi said.

Malcolm Taylor said he stood by his decision to file the motion and not to include who had written it. He had always planned to tell councillors when it was brought to the council table, he said.

Hyndman said he seconded the motion because he agreed with it on a “country-wide basis” and wanted to "show solidarity" with Malcolm Taylor and councillors around the country. But he did not believe it belonged at the council table, he told LDR.

Hyndman said he was "very happy" with the relationship between councillors and staff and had "absolutely no problems" with the quality of the information provided to councillors.

– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.