Katie Allan was elected as the chairwoman of the Ōreti Community Board after former board chairman Colin Smith was voted out last week 4-3.
Approached for comment, Southland District Council chief executive Cameron McIntosh confirmed the details of the incident with Ms Allan this week.
"In May 2023, council became aware that the new community board chair had filled out false declarations about two of her dogs stating they had died, and that she had failed to register a dog."
He said the council issued two infringement notices and also asked for the dogs to be registered.
She had to pay a fine and had since registered the dogs, he said.
The fine for each infringement was $750.
Mr McIntosh said the incident happened after the 2022 local government elections — when she was first elected as a member of the community board.
"These actions/infringements would not impact eligibility to be a candidate for a community board or to continue as a member," Mr McIntosh said.
The Otago Daily Times tried to contact Ms Allan several times but was unable to reach her.
A voice message on her phone, uploaded to the community board’s website, said she was on leave and unavailable until October 14.
The Ōreti Community Board recently made headlines for its dysfunction and drew criticism for a decision it made in June, when it voted against upgrading Winton’s ageing CCTV.
Last week, a special board meeting was held after four members wrote to the council stating their intention to remove Mr Smith as chairman.
Ms Allan and fellow board members Chris Herud, Dave Diack and Tracy Kennedy did not believe he was the person to lead the board and voted him out.
Earlier this week, the board had another shake-up when Cr Darren Frazer requested he be removed as an appointee to the Ōreti Community Board, a position he has held since 2019.
Cr Christine Menzies was voted to replace him in the role.
