Jayne Golightly has been urged by a lobby group to repay the salary she earned as a Whangarei District Councillor after she resigned this week.
Jayne Golightly has been urged by a lobby group to repay the salary she earned as a Whangarei District Councillor after she resigned this week.
A lobby group wants a former Whangarei District Councillor who resigned because she was not a New Zealand citizen to pay back the salary she was paid while in the role and to pay the $35,000 cost of the byelection.
Denby ward councillor Jayne Golightly resigned on Wednesday after learning she is not a New Zealand citizen. The resignation, less than a year into her tenure, means a byelection will be held in the Denby ward on December 7, at a cost of about $35,000. Ms Golightly acknowledged it was here mistake and she took full responsibility for it.
Garrick Wright-McNaughton, a spokesman of the Taxpayers' Union, said given that the mistake was set to cost ratepayers about $35,000 Ms Golightly should pay that amount to the council.
Ms Golightly had offered to pay the costs of the byelection, but under electoral law a byelection has to be funded by the relevant council, not a potential candidate.
However, Mr Wright-McNaughton said that did not stop Ms Golightly making a $35,000 donation to the council for one of its projects or towards a community project in the Denby ward that would benefit ratepayers.
"This byelection is because of a mistake made by Ms Golightly and is no fault whatsoever of ratepayers, but they will be the ones picking up the bill," he said.
Mr Wright-McNaughton said Ms Golightly's excuse that she was unaware of her citizenship status, meaning that she was not legally entitled to be a candidate isn't good enough, given her public admission that she travels on a UK passport.
The nomination form for a candidate even requires the candidate to tick a box saying that they are a NZ citizen and Ms Golightly had done that.
"Even the council's FAQ for candidates states that candidates must be citizens. An apology isn't good enough, she needs to refund her ratepayer-funded salary that she was never entitled to," Mr Wright-McNaughton said.
"Had Ms Golightly . . . carried out the trivial process of confirming her citizenship prior to last year's elections, this wouldn't have been necessary."
Ms Golightly has been contacted for comment on Mr Wright-McNaughton's call, but had not responded by edition time.
However, Ms Golightly told the Northern Advocate on Wednesday she travels on a UK passport, which has a returning resident's visa in it.
This visa needs renewing every time a new UK passport is applied for and should indicate that the holder is a permanent resident of New Zealand and not a citizen. But she said that did not register with her and she genuinely believed that she was a NZ citizen.
She emigrated from the UK with her parents when she was just 18 months old and while she travels on a UK passport, she believed she was a NZ citizen.
She had since applied for citizenship and is hoping to get it fast-tracked so she can stand in the byelection. Mrs Golightly said she had offered to pay the costs of the byelection, but was unable to do so.
Don Robertson
Nominations for the byelection open on September 13 and close at noon on October 11. Ms Golightly would have had to have had her citizenship ceremony before that date in order to stand.
''My mother and father were granted citizenship in 2003, when I was on my OE in the UK. I had absolutely no reason to ever question or suspect my lack of NZ citizenship. I have never seen myself as anything other than a New Zealander. New Zealand and Whangarei have always been my home,'' Ms Golightly said.
Some of those who lost out to Jayne Golightly in the race for the Denby ward at the last election are already considering whether to stand again in the byelection.
Ms Golightly came second in the race for three councillors, behind Tricia Cutforth and ahead of Crichton Christie. Bill Rossiter was fourth, followed by John Williamson, Matt Keene, Geoff Abbott, Don Robertson and Ash Graham Tadman.
Mr Robertson, a former Whangarei District Councillor, said since news of the resignation broke he had received support and encouragement from many quarters to stand again.
"I would like to run again and will be discussing the current situation, timing and logistics of standing over the next few days," he said.
Mr Williamson, another former Whangarei District Councillor, said he would have thought Ms Golightly's ineligibility to stand would have been picked up well before now.
He said it was too early to make a decision on whether to stand or not, but he was considering it.
Matt Keene
Mr Keene, who also stood for mayor in the election on the Together Tahi platform, said it was too early for him to make a decision, at this stage, but he was certainly considering whether to stand or not.
