Media Release: Petition for an Inquiry into Rotorua’s Election

Reynold Macpherson, 4 November 2016

I attach a copy of a Petition that I filed today in the Rotorua District Court asking:

that pursuant to Section 102 of the Local Electoral Act 2001, the Rotorua District Council election result declared on 14th October 2016 be declared void and a new election be ordered.

It is with the utmost reluctance that I have taken this possibly unprecedented step. The actions of Rotorua District Council Chief Executive Geoff Williams in withholding the release of the unfavourable Community Satisfaction Survey 2016 (CCS 2016) from the National Research Bureau (NRB) until after the election was also unprecedented - certainly in Rotorua.

Since 26 October, when Mr Williams released the report (dated 30 June 2016), I have received numerous expressions of angry disbelief from residents and ratepayers concerning his actions.

There have also been a number of comments reported in the media expressing related concerns, including this from Phil Campbell at SteamNMud:

If politics is a matter of tactics to survive to succeed, the Rotorua Lakes Council has played a cool if cynical hand over the timing of the release of an unfavourable National Research Bureau report .... Would it and should it have been … considered a catalyst for the removal of what Reynold Macpherson … calls a regime and has termed a tyranny and a corrupt practice? Such moves as revealed last week underscores his views of 2015.

Had the annual report been released in a timely manner, as in previous years, it would have reinforced the Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayer’s (RDRR) platform and exposed how vulnerable the incumbent regime was. It would have also enabled analysis and commentary in the media of the report by the RDRR-endorsed candidates.

The election results record a significant swing of between 22 to 30 per cent against the Mayor and most of the incumbent Councillors who supported the Mayor, while the other Councillors were more kindly treated by the voters. A further swing of just 69 votes would have changed the results of the election and the make up of the new Council.

I believe that the actions of withholding the CSS 2016 report and publishing favourable "advertorials" during the election betrays Mr Williams' bias in favour of the incumbent Mayor and her supporters. As Chief Executive, Mr Williams has a duty to act in a fair manner at all times and that includes avoiding personal bias. In this case I believe Mr Williams has fallen short of his duty and has unfairly influenced the outcome of the election.

It is for these reasons that I have taken this step. In doing so I know I have the support of many in the community. At the same time I am disappointed that the Rotorua ratepayers may have to pay for and be inconvenienced by another election. No one will want that, but ever fewer will want elections to be determined by Chief Executives.

20161104__Petition_for_Enquiry.pdf

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