Cr Matt Wong, right, had questioned why ‘wider CBD’ ratepayers should pick up most of the council tab for the budget-blown arterial road which fundamentally bypasses the CBD.
It would come as a "massive shock" to CBD ratepayers, and the economic timing was "just shockingly terrible", he told Mountain Scene.
Wong says "while it’s in the consultation process, which it was at the time, it’s frowned upon for councillors to make a judgement and sway the community".
The first-term councillor puts down his alleged misdemeanour to being a "newbie" who didn’t know the rules. "I guess it comes down to right time, right place, right topic."
Despite being reminded of a councillor’s obligations — "it wasn’t really a bad telling-off" — Wong doesn’t regret what he said.
"I don’t regret getting the opportunity for the community to actually understand what the targeted rate was all about ... that a lot of people had not really got their head around.
"Where I probably could have improved is I could have explained possibly what the options were rather than voiced what my thoughts were on the topic."
In the end, councillors didn’t hit ‘wider CBD’ ratepayers with a targeted rate for the bypass, but did sting them for the CBD street upgrade.
