Stratford Mayor Neil Volzke: Behaviour rules for councillors are there for a reason

The behavioural rules most likely to cause real grief are those around conflicts of interest and perceived conflicts of interest, says Stratford District Mayor Neil Volzke. Photo / NZME

OPINION

Over the past few weeks, we have seen a number of high-profile people get themselves into hot water over comments they have made while holding senior positions within the public service. The first was Rob Campbell, former chairman of the Environmental Protection Agency and Health New Zealand, who was ousted for making comments that were considered not politically impartial and in breach of public service expectations about neutrality.

After Campbell showed, in my view, no remorse and was given the red card, former members of Parliament Steve Maharey and Ruth Dyson both found themselves in similar positions but with different outcomes. Maharey said sorry for his comments and lived to fight another day, while Dyson seemed puzzled about all the fuss, even confessing she had never read the rules that she is supposedly working under, let alone abide by them. Confused?

Then came Stuart Nash who, as a serving minister and a member of Cabinet, should have known better than to meddle with issues outside of his true role and for his sins he received a demotion, a warning and a sin-binning similar to rugby’s yellow card. But he is an energetic and straight-talking type of character who will bounce back, just like a sportsman who plays the game on the edge of the rules.

Unsurprisingly, people elected to councils also have rules to abide by, and by and large these are incorporated into a Code of Conduct document that elected members sign up to when they take up their roles. This outlines expectations for general behaviour and clarifies the dos and the don’t dos.

Overall, it works fine when everyone is behaving, but when breaches occur as they do from to time, codes of conduct are often found wanting. This is largely because in reality, the Code of Conduct lacks any significant consequences for your action or the teeth and ability to punish people when this is deemed necessary. Hence it is easy to jump to the conclusion that the perpetrator “got away with it” or was just tapped over the hand with the proverbial wet bus ticket. Bad behaviour alone cannot result in an elected member being removed from their council role.

A second document known as Standing Orders outline the rules of engagement for council meetings and these are prescriptive and formal in nature. However, the way a meeting chairperson applies those rules can vary greatly and hence councils have different approaches to this, some being more formal than others. There is sometimes a fine line to tread. Again, breaches of the rules can result in a reprimand or in worse cases, ejection from a meeting — something a hardened campaigner probably enjoys having on their CV and something that most would bounce back from within a few minutes.

The behavioural rules that are most likely to cause real grief are those around conflicts of interest and perceived conflicts of interest. Breaching these rules is serious stuff and often there can be legal consequences associated with them or financial implications that add spice to the argument. Fortunately, elected members are generally well schooled on what constitutes a conflict of interest and what doesn’t, so we don’t often hear of people falling into this trap. When identifying a conflict, the onus lies with the elected member to declare their interest and as a result, people tend to err on the safe side. I think it is fair that elected members should be held accountable for their actions in this way.

Whether it is a person appointed to a public service position, a member of Parliament or a person elected to a local council role, we all have a responsibility to carry out our duties in a way that befits the positions we hold. When breaches occur, we should expect a reprimand and this has happened in the recent cases, albeit with different outcomes. Will breaches happen again? Of course, but within our council I can’t say — it might be a conflict of interest.