A council spokesman said debate last week about the scope of a code of conduct review had been settled after video of a February meeting was revisited.
Councillors called for the video replay of their decision-making last week during a debate between Mrs Gardner and councillors over whether a protocol she set could be included in an independent review of the code of conduct.
Her protocol would not be part of the review, the spokesman confirmed this week.
Mrs Gardner’s protocol addresses which staff councillors are allowed to engage with and she said it should not be part of the code of conduct review because the review was to be "a very narrow look at the code".
However, deputy chairman Cr Michael Laws countered that the review was to make the code fit for purpose.
He and others argued that if a breach of Mrs Gardner’s protocol was a breach of the code of conduct, it was open for review.
Shortly after, the decision to consult a video replay of a previous meeting was taken.
The rare move came the same day councillors agreed to external mediation to restore the relationship between councillors and the executive leadership at the organisation.
When confirming the video replay results, the council spokesman said Cr Hilary Calvert had proposed a change to the motion voted on in February to narrow the scope of the code of conduct review.
It was limited to matters raised in advice from Len Andersen QC, which were presented to the council in November last year, he said.
"This was agreed by the mover and seconder, and the motion passed and was the resolution that is now being worked to," the spokesman said.
While councillors ultimately decided on the meaning of a resolution, "inevitably interpretation is made by staff in implementing it", he said.
Cr Calvert said she looked forward to seeing where staff "land with their interpretation".
It was Cr Calvert who first suggested that Mrs Gardner’s protocol could be tied to the code of conduct review.
What was considered to be Mr Andersen’s advice to the council remained a matter of interpretation, Cr Calvert said this week.
"My recollection is that his advice contained specific areas of concern and and also dealt with the overall issue of whether the code is fit for purpose.
"The intention of the resolution was to concentrate on the specific areas rather than redo the entire code."
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Rather than wasting more ratepayers' money on “he said, she said" competitions, why don’t they just keep minutes?
Or just act like competent professionals
Well!! "Bully for the Chief Executive", didn't she do well?? Scoring points of the Councillors is not only childish, it is unprofessional and abusing the use of ratepayers money. She needs to go.