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ROSE WOODS
Hutt City Councilor Chris Milne repeatedly refused to apologize for his action.
Hutt City Councilman Chris Milne will have to publicly apologize and pay $ 16,500 in legal costs for claims that he tried to influence the sale of land at a tennis club where his wife is the president.
Milne, furious, lashed out at his colleagues at a nearly seven-hour council meeting Friday, calling the investigation a “politically successful job” and repeatedly refusing to apologize.
“I wouldn’t feel very good about it because I wouldn’t believe it … It depends on how genuine you want the apology to be,” he said.
A letter of censure written by Mayor Campbell Barry on behalf of the council will be delivered to Milne, expressing “disappointment at his actions and stubbornness.”
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You will lose your position on the Audit and Risk subcommittee and will not have personal access to board staff unless you apologize before October 23.
To be accepted by the city council, your public apology must acknowledge that your actions were serious and promise that they will not be repeated.
ROSA WOODS / Things
An extraordinary meeting of the Hutt city councilman met for nearly seven hours on Friday to decide Chris Milne’s fate.
Milne, who was represented at the extraordinary meeting by former Mayor David Odgen, accused his fellow council members and Mayor Campbell Barry of a bad faith attempt to punish a political opponent.
“I’m here today attending my own test show,” Milne said.
“The British navy used to whip sailors on deck with a nine-tailed jack, to keep them in order. Others will be intimidated when they see what happens to me, ”he said.
An independent investigation found that Milne attempted to influence council staff to sell tennis court land in a way that would benefit Hutt Valley Tennis. Milne’s wife is the president of the tennis club.
The investigation found that he violated the conflict of interest and the rules of ethical behavior.
In a separate complaint, Milne was found to have improperly contacted a general manager of Waste Management Ltd while the council’s waste and recycling tender process was still active.
Milne was found to have violated the rules on relations with the public.
ROSA WOODS / Things
Mayor Campbell Barry will write a letter of censure to Milne on behalf of the council, expressing his disappointment at his actions.
Independent investigator Leo Donnelly said the violations were “material and serious and should be brought to the attention of, and considered by, [Hutt City] Advice”.
“Councilmember Milne’s actions and responses to date reflect a lack of awareness of how those actions might be perceived and could be damaging to the council’s reputation.”
Milne claimed that his actions were not out of the ordinary, and many fellow counselors held similar meetings. In particular, it objected to complaints about Waste Management, saying it never had the ability to influence the bidding process.
“I find it appalling that councilors are so preoccupied with bureaucratic complexity that they cannot do the job for which they were elected,” he said.
ROSA WOODS / Things
Milne repeatedly lashed out at his council colleagues, accusing them of trying to silence him.
At one point, he compared himself to a doctor in Wuhan who was trying to warn people about a virus.
“In this case it is a different pandemic, a loss of trust in the council,” he said.
He strongly denied that he had tried to “give orders” to Bruce Hodgins, a senior staff member, regarding the sale of land for tennis courts.
Milne claimed that his call with Hodgins was routine and was not intended to inappropriately influence a sale. He did not believe at the time that he was violating the code of conduct, he said.
He claimed that the investigation had been too strict to the letter of the law and did not take into account the seriousness of its breach.
He compared the situation to saving a child from a house fire and being charged with kidnapping and breaking and entering.
“I developed the suspicion that they were stitching me up … no matter what I did, they would blame me,” he said.
Former mayor Odgen said he had known Milne for a long time and defended his character.
“He is a good man, a genuine man. It’s annoying sometimes, he doesn’t agree with you and you have to put up with that, ”he said.
