Martin Connelly was not present at the meeting. Photo: Supplied/ South Wairarapa District Council
South Wairarapa District councillors have made a unanimous vote of no confidence in their mayor Martin Connelly in a closed-door meeting Thursday afternoon.
Councillors wrote an open letter to Connelly after the meeting, claiming the mayor had been dismissive towards some community members and absent from several important meetings.
"We are writing to you collectively to express our concerns, voice our expectations, and provide advance consideration of potential actions should our expectations not be met," the councillors said.
On Connelly's interactions with the public, councillors said he had not given all people the same level of respect during public participation at council meetings.
"Some community members have experienced a domineering and dismissive approach for example: The condescending treatment of [redacted] last week, regarding a word he did not know, by telling him it was some homework for him."
Connelly told RNZ he believed councillors were referring to one isolated event.
"Somebody came in to make a public presentation, which we encourage, and at the end of his presentation, he then wished to make another presentation by claiming to be his wife.
"I thought he was just taking the mickey, and I wasn't very encouraging to him."
The councillors also claimed Connelly often acted in isolation without consulting his fellow councillors.
Connelly was not present at the meeting but told RNZ he thought the vote was unfortunate.
"There's actually very few decisions that a mayor can make," he said.
"Mayors have no more powers than any other councillor, so any substantive decision always has to be by a majority vote.
"It seems to me that somebody misunderstands what the role and function of a mayor is."
Connelly said he regretted that he currently lacked the confidence of councillors and hoped to restore it.
