An independent assessor has found Steve Gibson breached the council’s Code of Conduct, but he is still refusing to meet with Mayor Wendy Schollum to resolve the issue.
An independent assessment of the actions of Hastings District councillor Steve Gibson towards a staff member at the city’s art gallery found he breached the council’s code of conduct and engaged in low-level bullying.
It follows a complaint from a staff member about Gibson’s conduct at the Hastings Art Gallery on December 5.
An exhibition by artist Diane Prince opened at the gallery in November 2025.
It included an installation called “Flagging the Future” which had a New Zealand flag laid on the floor of the gallery with the words “Please Walk on Me” stencilled on it.
Gibson came out publicly against the controversial installation and on December 5, the flag was stolen from the art gallery.
In the hours after that, Gibson had an altercation with a staff member that she said left her feeling “humiliated”.
Independent assessor local lawyer Greg Millard, was called in by Hastings District Council CEO Nigel Bickle.
Millard said in his report that Gibson’s interaction with the staff member met the council’s definition of “bullying”.
“It is in my view a very low-level instance, but the impact ... has been great,” Millard said.
“I note that intent is not an element of the definition, so Cr Gibson did not have to intend to offend or humiliate.”
Millard said the council’s definition of bullying in its code of conduct differed from the WorkSafe New Zealand definition.
“There is no problem with that, however, the definition does seem to lower the bar for behaviour to be considered bullying.”
Millard said he considered the breaches to be “relatively minor” and recommended Mayor Wendy Schollum meet with Gibson to resolve the matter.
Gibson has so far refused to meet with the mayor.
Schollum said she would have preferred the matter to be resolved at the lowest level, consistent with the independent assessor’s advice, and with due regard for the wellbeing of the complainant.
“The assessor recommended a specific informal pathway, which involved a discussion with the mayor to see whether the matter could be resolved without further escalation. That opportunity was offered several times and not taken up,” Schollum said.
Other proposals were later put forward by Gibson but were different from the pathway recommended by the assessor and did not meet the requirements under the code, she said.
“Council has no choice but to follow the Code of Conduct process.”
Gibson also refused an interview with Millard, instead sending a statement.
He also emailed Millard saying he believed “this complaint has been engineered due to my opposition to what I regard as the entrenched woke culture within this council.
“I also believe that as a white male, I have been unfairly targeted and profiled.”
The report says the behaviour at the heart of the complaint occurred near the customer service desk inside the gallery, on Friday, December 5.
Gibson visited the gallery, telling staff he was there for a welfare check, as he had heard the flag had been stolen and staff abused.
During the conversation, a female staff member cut in and said they were fine.
Millard’s report said accounts started to differ from this moment, with gallery staff saying she did so calmly and politely, while Gibson described her as “aggressive, angry and rude”.
The complainant told Millard that Gibson’s subsequent comments were “deeply hurtful and racist” and she felt he was making the point that she was “a woman of colour” and therefore perhaps implying she was pleased with the flag exhibit.
Gibson said he was not being disparaging, sexist or racist.
The female staff member told Millard that Gibson said something like: “Not you, I’m here to talk to the staff”.
He claimed he did not recognise the complainant as a gallery staff member.
But Millard said after interviewing all staff members involved, in his view, it was entirely reasonable for the complainant to have assumed that Gibson knew she was an art gallery staff member based on previous interactions.
Gibson said he had in the past week sent a letter to the mayor, to pass on to the staff member, saying he was sorry if she felt offended during his visit to the Art Gallery.
“I acknowledge that I became very defensive,” Gibson wrote.
“I accept that my reaction contributed to how events unfolded and how that may have made you feel.”
He said he regretted the situation had become “larger than it needed to be” and he was disappointed they (he and the complainant) were not able to sit down and talk it through.
Gibson claimed that, so far, the investigation into his conduct has cost the council more than $9000.
As a result of the complaint being unable to be resolved through the recommended meeting, the council’s code of conduct required the matter to be referred to an independent investigator.
Gibson said he expected that would cost an additional $10,000 “at least”.
Last month, Gibson chose not to attend a strategic planning session held on a marae because he felt uncomfortable about “extended addresses delivered in te reo without translation” and “the spiritual aspects associated with marae proceedings, including references to beliefs that are not consistent with my own Christian faith”.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.