Whau Local Board has officially censured member Duncan Macdonald for two breaches of the Auckland Council Code of Conduct at its business meeting today.
It follows complaints made by two different members of the public in January 2019 and March 2019 and relate to two different instances of conduct by member Macdonald in his capacity as a member of Whau Local Board.
A third complaint also reviewed by the panel was deemed to not breach the code of conduct. All cases were reviewed by an independent review panel.
Independent review
The panel, led by Derek Firth, a Commercial Barrister, agreed that member Macdonald had breached the code of conduct in two instances, once in relation to improper conduct with council staff, and the second in relation to member Macdonald’s interaction with a member of the public.
The panel recommended censure of member Macdonald in both instances.
Recommendations
At the meeting, the board endorsed the recommendations of the panel and censured member Macdonald. The board also agreed to make both Review Panel’s reports public with redactions where appropriate.
The report is available on the Auckland Council Website under the Whau Local Board Meeting of 3 July 2019.
Censure
A censure is a formal minuted statement of disapproval by a body, usually exhibited by a formal resolution of the body making the censure. It does not require a specific legislative power.
The Local Government Act requires each local board to adopt standing orders and requires the governing body to adopt a code of conduct which applies to all elected members. The Code provides for a censure and Whau Local Board standing orders recognise there might be a censure in Standing Order 8.1.2.
Code of Conduct
The Auckland Council code of conduct sets out:
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the conduct of members toward one another, staff and public
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how information is disclosed
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legislation that applies to the actions of members
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the relationship between elected members and management.
Avondale Business Association
This decision is separate from the ongoing work being undertaken by the council to resolve some issues that were raised regarding the Avondale Business Association. A report will come to Whau Local Board on the matter later this year.
