An independent investigation has been launched into the conduct of a councillor who wrote an expletive-laden rant to a neighbouring council in which he asked: “What the f**k are you r******d s*****c c**ts doing?”.
Hamilton City councillor Andrew Bydder made the derogatory comments in an online submission to Waipā District Council over the placement of a third bridge in Cambridge where he lives.
The architectural designer also told Waipā Mayor Susan O’Regan to, “get off your fat a*** and do your job” in the submission lodged several months ago.
The submission prompted a code of conduct complaint by Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate who called the language “appalling”.
“I think that behaviour from anybody, let alone a public person, is unprofessional. I can’t ignore it. It’s threatening, vulgar, abusive, disrespectful language.”
On Monday, a Hamilton City Council spokesperson said the council had received 24 complaints against Bydder over the submission — including from elected members on both councils as well as members of the public.
Southgate’s initial complaint was assessed by the council’s independent lawyers who had now determined the matter be referred to an independent investigator.
“For clarity, the initial assessment is intended as a guide to inform decision-making,” the spokesperson said.
“An independent investigator may come to a different conclusion to that indicated in the initial assessment on the conclusion of their investigation.”
He said no further comments on the process would be made by the council while an investigation was underway.
No apology from councillor
Last week, Bydder was unapologetic, saying he was only sorry he had associated “r******d” people with councillors.
He said he had deliberately written the submission, which was largely redacted online, that way to get the council’s attention over what he called poor public consultation on the placement of the bridge.
O’Regan admitted the council misstepped over early consultation on the bridge’s potential placement and had already apologised but she said that was no excuse for Bydder’s comments.
Hamilton disability advocate, Vision Impaired NZ national executive director for parents Dr Rebekah Graham, said the use of two of the words in a derogatory manner made them ableist slurs.
She called on Bydder to apologise to the intellectually disabled community and make a donation to Cerebral Palsy NZ and IHC.
Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston rebuked Bydder and encouraged him and anyone who used language like he did to reflect on how it shaped perceptions of disabled people and disabilities.
“Words matter, and using derogatory terms that are vulgar and disrespectful to the disability community just to get attention is not acceptable.”
