Mayoral Conflict: Dunner Stunner Looms

In his most recent dispute with his own council he has price them upwards of $42,000 by arguing over a $12 parking ticket. “I actually went into the council to advise of defective meter signage that needed to be corrected and not to try and discuss my method out of a parking ticket,” Cr Vandervis said. He additionally said he had been smeared when there was publicity concerning the incident, which occurred earlier than the 2019 election, when Cr Vandervis contested the mayoralty. The incident at the coronary heart of the case took place on September 13, 2019, after Cr Vandervis received a $12 parking ticket, unaware he had parked in a 30-minute zone. Lee Vandervis was discovered to be in breach of the code regarding a disagreement in 2019 about parking, but he has argued an investigation into his conduct was flawed and a censure from the council shouldn’t be allowed to stand.

In response, he alleged that his privacy was breached at a crucial time of the election marketing campaign. On sixteen March 2015, Lee Vandervis was subject to a code of conduct listening to dealing with three complaints towards him for his alleged bullying, aggressive, and deceptive behaviour. The metropolis councillor had been concerned in an argument with the Dunedin City Council’s chief government Dr Sue Bidrose and had criticized the council and the native police’s investigation of the unlawful sale of 150 the Council’s Cityfleet automobiles to local residents. On 1 May 2015, Vandervis was briefly stripped of his voting rights after failing to apologize for these actions. In addition, Vandervis has additionally opposed a three.8% charges increase and has referred to as for the council to cut again on staff numbers and to “be run extra like a enterprise.” Vandervis was additionally criticised by Mayor Cull and several fellow councillors including Rachel Elder, Aaron Hawkins, and Mike Lord for alleged bullying and intimidating behaviour.

He exited quite than apologise, as demanded by Hawkins, for remarks taken to indicate former mayor Cull, a latter-day “lycra-clad cyclist”, personally benefitted from a roading project on Otago Peninsula. In August 2021, Vandervis disagreed with the Dunedin City Council’s proposal for a vacation spot playground, instead advocating adventure playgrounds the place youngsters and younger individuals can play with water, hearth, and construct with pallets. Vandervis’ views have been supported by University of Otago geography Professor Claire Freeman, who mentioned that contemporary kids skilled less freedom than earlier generations, lowering their capacity to deal with risk. Lee Vandervis stood for re-election in the October 2013 native election as a Dunedin City Councillor; he also contested the Dunedin mayoralty for the fourth time.

Vandveris litigated the censure and code of conduct evaluation by way of a 2020 judicial evaluate at the High Court, and in March 2022 appealed the end result of this to the Court of Appeal, New Zealand’s principal intermediate appellate court. The Court of Appeal agreed with both the judicial evaluation and the initial process that the Council had followed, excluding noting that Vandervis should have received a written copy of the allegation made against him. In June 2022 the Dunedin City Council was awarded costs of $101,682.eighty five. In July 2022 Vandervis sought go away from the Supreme Court of New Zealand to hear the case. The Supreme Court rejected Vandervis’ authorized staff’s software for depart to attraction his parking ticket fine in September.

He once described the workers member as “very unpleasant”, which was opposite to the statements of witnesses. Cr Vandervis has mentioned he was hamstrung by the fact he was not given the original grievance or witness statements. A lawyer for Cr Vandervis would have 20 working days to file materials making the case for go away to be granted. Vanderis’ first foray into the world of storytelling got here to us via the wonderful Kickstarter marketing campaign for the sport, and a lot of that was due scourge of the past hidden chest to the truth that the director is knowledgeable online game designer. He needed to make a sport that is both distinctive in its type of storytelling and in addition one thing that’s well-received by his viewers. White is definitely the color of health, however that doesn’t rule out the truth that you’ll find a way to still be sick and in want of medical consideration.

As an electrical Nissan Leaf driver (with a pair of fossil-fuelled Toyota Land Cruisers additionally within the driveway) and within the strategy of taking his residence off-grid, he challenges the mayor to see who has extra green cred. Many of the stoushes Vandervis finds himself in come right down to complaints from fellow councillors and council workers about his threatening method. As lately as September 1, Vandervis provided a mea culpa in an Otago Daily Times story for strolling out of a council meeting.