Mayor Craig Jepson leaves the meeting, saying members of the public had become too unruly. Photo / RNZ, Peter de Graaf
By Peter de Graaf RNZ
The Kaipara District Council will make a second attempt at convening an emergency meeting this morning after Thursday’s bid to lodge an election complaint was interrupted by a member of the public.
Mayor Craig Jepson adjourned the meeting after just 25 minutes when a man in a World War II aviator cap approached the council table and refused to sit down.
The 76-year-old said it was the first time he had been involved in a protest.
Peter Linnell, of Kaiwaka, said he had worn his dad’s RNZAF cap and blazer because his father had fought for democracy – the same thing he was standing up for during the meeting.
Earlier, the mayor told RNZ he had called the meeting because he had serious concerns about irregularities in the election process for the Kaipara District Council and the Northland District Council’s Māori constituency.
He wanted councillors to join him in lodging a complaint and requesting an investigation.
Normally a meeting requires at least three days’ notice, but an emergency meeting can be called with 24 hours’ notice.
Some councillors, however, questioned whether the meeting’s purpose met the definition of an emergency.
The response from the council’s lawyer drew loud applause from the roughly 20 members of the public squeezed into the Mangawhai meeting room.
“In my view, there is no immediate time requirement that needs to be met,” the lawyer said.
Electoral officer Dale Ofsoske, who runs the company contracted to run Kaipara’s elections, also seemed to pour cold water on the rationale for the emergency meeting.
Speaking via audiovisual link, he said the vote-counting process would continue and the final result would be released late on Friday, as planned.
He also said any candidate, or any 10 voters, who had concerns about the election could challenge the result within 21 days of a winner being declared.
The meeting’s agenda called for an investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs, but Ofsoske said the DIA had no jurisdiction over elections.
Those revelations prompted councillor Pera Paniora to ask the mayor why he did not make a complaint in his personal capacity, instead of “dragging our council through the mud”.
Jepson responded there had been “a huge number of irregularities” in the election process, and a complaint by the council as a whole was warranted.
Around that point, Linnell got up and the meeting descended into what Jepson described as “unruly” behaviour.
As he left he said he was “disappointed but not surprised” by the outcome.
He said the meeting would resume at 9am today.
Afterwards, Paniora said it was disappointing the mayor’s attempt to challenge the election process had “cast a big cloud over the community” just as they were about to celebrate the final results.
“However, what was awesome was Dale Ofsoske saying he will declare the results, regardless of what happens when we come back to the meeting.”
She believed the complaint was a distraction from the final result, which could swing away from Jepson’s chosen successor, Deputy Mayor Jonathan Larsen, once the district’s roughly 500 special votes were counted.
Currently, Larsen had a lead of only five votes over his nearest rival, iwi leader Snow Tane. Just 31 votes separate Larsen, Tane and two-time former mayor Jason Smith.
Councillor Eryn Wilson-Collins, of Dargaville, said it had become clear during the meeting that there were two ways of making a complaint about an election – a recount or a judicial inquiry – and the mayor was not following either.
She said councillors were being asked to follow a process that wasn’t going to get anywhere and could lead to legal costs for ratepayers.
Meanwhile, Linnell was not sure if he would be back on Friday.
“I think I’ve done my bit. This is my first protest and I’m 76 years old.”
It was also the first time he had worn his father’s RNZAF blazer.
“I put it on today because he put his life on the life for democracy.”
Linnell said he felt strongly about the Kaipara council’s decision to remove its Māori ward.
“They should have representation … I believe it gives us a fairer society.”