Tauranga City Councillor John Robson. Photo / George Novak
The first was about Robson's treatment of confidential council documents.
The second was about a comment Robson allegedly made in a confidential council meeting regarding a prominent Tauranga businessman's involvement with a council decision, which Robson refused to withdraw or apologise for.
The first complaint was found to be "not material" but council chief executive Marty Grenfell ordered an independent investigation into the second.
On Tuesday the results of the investigation by consultant Campbell Gourlay, a former police investigator, were discussed in a confidential meeting.
The majority voted to agree with Gourlay's finding that Robson's actions did not constitute a breach, and take no further action, as well as to make their resolutions public.
The council is considering a Bay of Plenty Times request to see the report.
Tauranga City Councillor Larry Baldock. Photo / Andrew Warner
Baldock, a former MP, said he was "pleased that after refusing to withdraw and apologise for any part of his comments for six months, that Cr Robson did finally admit that what he said was wrong".
"It is unfortunate that time and money had to be spent to force at least this acknowledgement from Cr Robson. He could have and should have withdrawn his comments much earlier."
The money would have been well spent, however, if elected members learned a lesson about following standing orders, he said.
If the comments were made public post-investigation people could come to their own conclusions, Baldock said.
Robson said he had not withdrawn any comments or apologised to anyone and any factual inaccuracies were "minor" and that Baldock was "attempting to keep litigating this".
"If there was any substance to it I would have been found guilty of breaching the code of conduct."
He said Baldock was taking the investigator's comment out of context and trying to build a case, just as he had with the comment he originally complained about.
"The councillor is not showing an ability to learn from his mistakes."
The Tauranga City Council administration building on Willow St. Photo / George Novak
Robson said the complaints had been waste of time and a distraction from the job councillors were there to do, chiefly sorting out the council's finances including $128 million in additional debt revealed last month.
"It's not what we are here to do, but it's done and it's time to move on."
Regarding the confidential documents, Robson said he paid for his personal lawyer to review a partnering agreement the council signed with Willis Bond and Company (Tauranga) for Heart of the City construction projects.
He did not agree with the council's refusal to make the document public and wanted an outside legal opinion.
The agreement has since been uploaded to the council's website, with some information redacted.
Robson said a few other council issues were "currently with my barristers".
Baldock made all three of the code of conduct complaints lodged this council term, according to information released under official information legislation. The third was against Steve Morris in 2017, which did not proceed to an investigation.
