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The investigation into a Dunedin city councilman who was censured for an exchange with a staff member about parking was flawed and unfair, the Superior Court was told.
Cr Lee Vandervis was found to have behaved in an aggressive, loud and intimidating manner during the incident last year.
But his attorney, Len Andersen, QC, told the court today that independent investigator David Benham should not have been appointed and that the investigation he conducted was unfair.
The council’s censorship of Cr Vandervis should be set aside, he said.
Dunedin City Council attorneys argued that the council’s decision should not be reversed by the court.
The key allegations about Cr Vandervis’s behavior were presented to him fairly and he took the opportunity to provide an extensive response in his interview with Mr. Benham, they presented.
The incident involved Cr Vandervis filing a complaint with a council staff member about parking. The staff member’s version of events was that the dispute was over a parking ticket. Cr Vandervis has disputed that, arguing that it was a faulty and mislabeled meter.
Mr. Benham decided after a preliminary hearing that a full investigation of Cr Vandervis’s conduct was needed and then ruled against Cr Vandervis after that investigation.
Based on their report, city councilors issued Cr Vandervis a censure for violating the code of conduct.
But Andersen disagreed that Benham came to the view that a full investigation was warranted without speaking to Cr Vandervis first.
He also said that Cr Vandervis did not receive witness statements and that Benham did not proactively make clear to Cr Vandervis all elements of what he was charged with.
Andersen said the council’s chief executive was the only person authorized to file a complaint about the code of conduct.
But the CEO at the time, Sue Bidrose, appeared to act as a facilitator for the staff member and the documentation did not show she took responsibility for the complaint, she said.
Michael Garbett and Shelley Chadwick were the attorneys for the council and Mr. Benham.
Garbett said that Cr Vandervis made full introductions to both Mr. Benham and the councilors.
Ultimately, councilors decided to censor Cr Vandervis, and there would have to be a clear procedural error and bias for that to be overturned, he said.
The suggestion that Dr. Bidrose was ignored when the complaint was made did not square with reality, he said.
Judge David Gendall has reserved his decision.
