Waikato Regional Council chairman Russ Rimmington has come under pressure in recent months after being accused of making racist comments during a public forum in October 2021.
(listen to the full interview below:)
A series of complaints against Rimmington about his behaviour reached boiling point last week when eight councillors, including West Coast councillor Fred Lichtwark, presented the chairman with a signed letter saying he had until Friday to leave on his own accord otherwise they would begin the formal process of removing him.
“He was given an opportunity to bow out gracefully or be removed via the law, the Local Government Act, and he hasn't bowed out,” said councillor Fred Lichtwark.
“Basically there's a majority of councillors that have signed a local government act requesting him or requiring him to stand down as chair. And that's already done. And an extraordinary meeting has been called, which is in a couple of weeks time, and that's specifically to elect a new chair.”
Rimmington initially came under fire in October last year when he was called on to apologise to iwi and his own council for what Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) Te Maruata chairperson Bonita Bigham described as offensive, derogatory and racist comments in relation to the Three Waters Reform.
Rimmington spoke about how "the Māori " will "usurp" and jeopardise" the future development of "our country" by having control of the water, during a Three Waters seminar at the end of October run by LGNZ.
The regional council accepted Rimmington’s public apology in December for those offensive comments and he committed to undergoing Treaty of Waitangi training but the Herald has reported that since then, he has publicly made more racist remarks that didn't reflect the council's views.
Despite undergoing Treaty of Waitangi training, Rimmington didn't appear to show any remorse saying he was still "giving bloody apologies, left, right and centre" in an interview he gave to Newsroom at the end of March . He went on to say the proposed iwi-local government would be "dangerous" and "disproportionate" because iwi only represented 17% of the population.
“That's not the regional council's view on that issue at all. You know, we have joint management agreements with various tribes throughout the country. And in my opinion, it works very well,” said Fred in response to the chairman’s controversial claims.
“It wasn't just with regards to racist comments. He wasn't delivering on what the regional council had agreed to make public. It's the council's response on, or agreement to, what should be broadcast through the chair.
“He was completely going on what he believed was right and wasn't taking into account the democratic process,” says Fred.
“Also the treatment that he gave some councillors was pretty appalling.”
Councillor Fred Lichtwark himself has laid eight complaints against Rimmington relating to his comments and processes followed. The cost of the investigations - some of which are still ongoing - have cost ratepayers more than $9000 so far.
“What he did to me as the West Coast councillor was probably the worst. I clocked the worst of it and the other councillors had enough of it.
“Excluding me from workshops and incurring costs to council because they had to run a separate workshop just for me on various issues like our coastal plan. It was costing ratepayers a lot of money and he was playing political games.”
Fred’s exclusion from council workshops came about after a complaint in September 2020 where Fred was banned from speaking to most council staff with the exception of chief executive or director relating to his portfolio.
While Fred has experienced his own controversies, ultimately he believes that Rimmington needs to resign for the council to start working properly, “based on a lot of things, not just the race comments when it comes to the treaty.”
As of today, no official word has come out on the embattled chairman’s response to the letter, however, under the Local Government Act a chairperson can be removed by a resolution of council or a requisition in writing signed by the majority of members at least 21 days before a meeting is held where it would be confirmed.
The chairperson can also stand down on their own accord at any time.