Anti-water meter group under fire for attacking Hamilton mayor

Thursday, 22 December 2016

The No Water Meters group also opposes a council-controlled organisation (CCO) for water.

A senior Hamilton city councillor is standing by his involvement with a Facebook page which made defamatory comments about the mayor and branded other councillors 'sell-outs'.

Colleagues have dubbed the murky politicking, involving anonymous posts about councillors' positions on water meters, as 'toxic waste' and say if people want to criticise others, they should put their names to it.

Hamilton Mayor Andrew King says he's never opposed a CCO, but wants to keep any decision on water meters in Hamilton City Council hands.

The post on the No Water Meters page followed a Hamilton City Council vote on the vexed issue of a Waikato council-controlled organisation (CCO) for water.

Unimpressed with how five elected members - including Mayor Andrew King - voted, the Facebook group posted that the votes showed who was ''good and bad'.

All New Zealand water CCOs have water meters, Councillor Dave Macpherson says.

* No water meters pledge sparks tit-for-tat among Hamilton hopefuls

* Step by step best way to form water CCO: Waipa District Council**

Senior Councillor Dave Macpherson is an administrator of the page.

Macpherson said that he wiped a comment about the mayor from the page but has no plans to end his involvement with it.

The post made defamatory comments about King's position on the CCO during his campaign as opposed to how he voted on it now.

It also labelled other councillors who voted against Cr Macpherson's amendment to the CCO motion as 'sell-outs'.

Macpherson said he didn't write the post. He said he deleted the portion about King and added a clarification.

'I'm very comfortable with what I've been doing … to highlight the water meters and water CCO issue,' he said.

'I don't see any problems [with being in the group represented by the Facebook page] because I've corrected the ones that I've seen are wrong and I've put explanations in to explain the council decision to people.'

King said the only insult he'd seen was one on his Facebook page, and Macpherson defended him. He said people were entitled to their opinions as long as they were based on fact.

There are understood to be seven administrators on the No Water Meters Facebook page, but Macpherson was not willing to name them.

The three who are named on the page are Macpherson, Western Community Centre manager Neil Tolan, and Max Coyle, a former West Ward candidate for Hamilton City Council.

Cr Paula Southgate said it was hard to work out who was making the comments on the No Water Meters page, and some of the group's information was incorrect or based on assumptions.

'When I make an opinion on my Facebook page or anywhere else, it's under my name. I've written it, and I publish it,' she said.

'The only position I have reached on the CCO and other options is that it should go to full public consultation, as I've said many times.'

Cr Angela O'Leary said she tries to stay out of the 'c…', but some people choose to operate that way.

'It's just toxic waste, in my view,' she said.

And she felt the local government system was broken when it came to councillor misbehaviour.

'There should be consequences for damaging city reputation,' she said.

'Every three years there's a consequence, because residents can choose not to put us back into office. But, other than that, people cannot turn up to meetings and do whatever they want.'

Cr Geoff Taylor, who highlighted raising the bar on councillor behaviour during his campaign, said he wasn't concerned by Macpherson's involvement in the group.

'It wasn't Dave [writing the post]. You can't always help who you associate with,' he said.

'To be honest, there are a few loose cannons in that [No Water Meters] brigade.'

Macpherson favours a closer look at enhanced shared services between councils and put forward an amendment to that effect at the Hamilton meeting.

Five elected members initially voted against Macpherson's plan, but when the alternative was dismissed, they all supported his idea.

King said once councillors voted to keep the power to decide on meters, King felt he could vote in support of a CCO.

'My position has always been very clear. I've never opposed a CCO, but I felt that the CCO concept was being used to avoid Hamilton city councillors making the hard decision on when and if we ever get water meters,' King said.

'Some people who probably aren't fully up to speed with what's going on are getting confused between the CCO and water meters.'

Those who initially voted against Macpherson's suggestion were: Garry Mallett, Leo Tooman, Paula Southgate, Rob Pascoe and Mayor Andrew King.