Complaint about Council's investigation into a councillor's alleged code of conduct breaches

Summary

The complainant, Ms Anne Hunt, was a Horowhenua District Councillor. The Council resolved to accept the findings of an investigation by its Code of Conduct Committee (the Committee) that Ms Hunt had breached the Council’s Code of Conduct (the Code). It then censured Ms Hunt and excluded her from all Council subcommittees. I have formed the opinion that two members of the Code of Conduct Committee were affected by a perception of bias and, for that reason, should have disqualified themselves from participating in the Committee’s investigation of the alleged breaches of the Code by Ms Hunt. Their failure to do so was unreasonable in terms of the Ombudsmen Act.