Russ Rimmington has been rolled as Waikato Regional Council chairperson, with eight councillors out of 14 voting for his removal at a meeting on Monday afternoon.
Rimmington said the result was disappointing. Although “democracy has spoken”, he said afterwards he intended to look at a judicial review of the decision, based on advice from leading constitutional and administrative lawyer Mai Chen.
The vote came after a troubled period for Rimmington’s leadership in the wake of his comments at an online forum on Three Waters reforms last year. At the forum, he talked of “the Māori” gaining control of water and that farmers and horticulturalists could be at their “beck and call”.
The move to unseat him came despite him issuing a public apology for his comments and having since been involved in Treaty of Waitangi training.
After his ousting, councillors voted 11-3 to replace Rimmington with finance committee chair Barry Quayle, nominated by Rimmington and the sole nominee as it turned out.
Quayle, the former “face of Fieldays”, said unity would be a big focus for him for the remaining months of the council term.
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“It’s important going forward that this council acts as one,” said Quayle. He had actually voted against removing Rimmington, saying he wanted to see more evidence of the basis for concerns about him.
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Cr Barry Quayle is the new chairperson of Waikato Regional Council (file photo).
After the meeting, Quayle said he didn’t actively lobby for the job. Asked why he thought he had been chosen he said: “Because I have shown good judgment and ability to be fair and independent.”
A complaint about Rimmington, who has a forthright style, is that he had failed at times to clearly reflect the position of council.
Asked if he would aim to be more diplomatic and measured, Quayle said local government was challenged with a range of big issues.
“It’s important we have clarity about what the council’s position is.”
At a December meeting Quayle had agreed there were concerns about how clearly Rimmington was reflecting council views.
Rimmington said after the hui that advice provided by Chen to the council over the weekend indicated that he would have grounds for seeking a judicial review of a vote to unseat him if councillor Fred Lichtwark voted. Chen also spoke before the meeting in a public excluded session.
Lichtwark, who has clashed openly with Rimmington, was one of the eight councillors who voted to remove him.
Rimmington said he was considering his judicial review options, including meeting the cost of up to $100,000 through crowd-funding.
“So I’m not giving up yet,”
Ahead of the vote, councillor Jennifer Nickel said the chairperson had the role of being the “voice of the council” who needed to “stick to the script” when it came to the council’s position.
Ngā Hau E Wha councillor Tipa Mahuta also raised concerns about whose views Rimmington reflected publicly and questioned his willingness to engage with Māori before he needed to apologise to them for his remarks.
She said his claimed lack of engagement was in part why “this council has had no mana in my community for this term”.
Councillor Angela Strange said the vote was about more than Three Waters or Rimmington’s clashes with Lichtwark. “It’s clear that we’ve lost trust and confidence in our chair.”
Stuff
Cr Denis Tegg criticised Rimmington’s “divisive style” (file photo).
Councillor Denis Tegg spoke of Rimmington’s “divisive style” and said it was not always clear whose views he was presenting when he spoke publicly.
“This has never been about Three Waters,” he said, rather a failure by Rimmington to reflect the majority view at times.
Rimmington had fobbed people off recently when they wanted answers, said councillor Stu Kneebone. “That’s been a pattern for some time now. We just can’t continue on the current trajectory.”
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Councillors Hugh Vercoe (left) and Stu Husband spoke in support of Rimmington (file photo).
However, a number of councillors spoke against Rimmington’s rolling, including Hugh Vercoe with nearly three decades in local government. “Today is the saddest day in all those 27 years in local government,” he said.
“What is the crime that Russ is guilty of?”
Councillor Kathy White said she felt the vote was “a political move rather than something which can be justified from the evidence”.
Councillor Stu Husband described the proceedings as “a kangaroo court”.
Rimmington himself said “I may not be perfect” but he felt he spoke his mind and didn’t “talk in two tongues”.
