It is his second code of conduct breach in as many months.
On Tuesday afternoon, the council released findings from an independent investigation into Clark’s appearance on satirical news show New Zealand Today in March.
It described the mayor’s behaviour as “disrespectful, discourteous, insulting, degrading, offensive, and/or discriminatory”.
The investigation came on the heels of an April complaint from councillors Ria Bond and Ian Pottinger who took exception to the mayor’s behaviour on the show.
During the television interview, Clark repeated the ‘n-word’, insisted host Guy Williams say it, used a homophobic slur, and featured a book titled Twisting the Treaty - A Tribal Grab for Wealth and Power - the latter described as ‘gratuitous’ by the investigators.
Wynn Williams said the breaches were “serious” and recommended minimum steps of censuring Clark by letter and requesting he publicly apologise.
It also recommended council consider other penalties, including steps to restrict Clark’s duties, a vote of no confidence and inviting the mayor to consider tendering his resignation.
On Friday, an extraordinary council meeting will be held to make a final decision on whether Clark did breach the code, and decide on the next steps.
It follows a similar meeting on June 21 when calls were made for the mayor to step down over his behaviour at a private event earlier in the year.
A complaint lodged by council chief executive Michael Day on behalf of the United Fire Brigades’ Association prompted an investigation, which found Clark to be in breach of the code at that time too.
In March, Clark was a guest at an association event, where it was alleged he made derogatory remarks towards the female MC from the lectern, including an unfounded claim she was having an affair with the association president.
He also referred to volunteer firefighters as second-class citizens.
“All in attendance were horrified and appalled by the mayor’s hateful and disrespectful rhetoric,” association chief executive William Butzbach wrote in a letter to the council.
The mayor blamed his actions on a “brain fade” following open heart surgery in January, but remained resolute in his decision to stay on as mayor despite multiple requests to resign.
Clark has now breached the council’s code of conduct three times since entering the chambers as a first-term councillor in 2019, his first occurring in 2020.
At that time, an independent report found he breached the code for questioning the truthfulness of then-chief executive Clare Hadley at a public meeting.
Clark did not participate in the most recent code of conduct investigation, listing a series of reasons including neither complainant seeking to discuss the matter with him directly, and an apology he’d already made in the media for “any unease caused”.
- By Matthew Rosenberg
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
