V8s row 'scapegoat' lashes out

Michael Redman. File photo / Doug Sherring

The former boss of Hamilton City Council says he has been hung out to dry over the V8 event and will continue to fight to clear his name.

City councillors will today have their first chance to debate the troubling V8 audit in a formal meeting.

Last night former chief executive Michael Redman said he was still trying to get hold of documents to challenge "key findings" and "factual errors" in the Audit New Zealand report.

Mr Redman claimed he had been treated unfairly and the elected members who signed off every decision around the event unanimously were letting him take the blame.

He resigned from his high-powered job as chief executive of Auckland Council's Tourism, Event and Economic Development unit the day after the audit was released.

"For the past two weeks, I have been the subject of a concerted, cynical campaign to make me the scapegoat for what happened over the last five years," he said. "The ratepayers of Hamilton deserve to know the truth of the shared roles and responsibilities between the council and management in arriving at this outcome."

This week the city councillors received information indicating the council could have a legal case against Mr Redman for potentially breaching his statutory obligations when he prepaid host fees of $837,000 and paid $2.99 million in compensation to V8 Supercars Australia to pay off creditors without the council's sign-off.

Hamilton's former mayor-turned-former chief executive said while the council was trying to focus on taking legal action against him, he was still trying to get hold of confidential documents from the council to prove his innocence.