Female councillors question mayor's decision to reshuffle committees

Tense exchanges were had at a South Waikato District Council meeting after mayor Gary Petley tabled a reshuffle of the council's committees.

During Wednesday's meeting, councillors Sandra Wallace, Kerry Purdy and Marie Farrell questioned Petley on the fairness of the reshuffle to female councillors.

Farrell asked the mayor what he would say to young women in the community watching council.

"How would you encourage them when during this term, despite our membership being 50 percent female, there's not one female committee chair?" she asked.

Farrell said the reshuffle increased the number of committees and yet there were still no females appointed to the position of committee chairperson.

"The majority of female councillors have been demoted through this reshuffle," she said.

Petley said he made the decision about the committee structure on what he believed was the best way forward for the council.

"If you believe that's a negative reflection on the way I'm doing my job then I'm prepared to live with that," Petley said.

He said when Farrell was chairperson of the Growth and Infrastructure committee, she "voted pretty much against everything".

Petley said he could not have someone chairing such a committee always voting against growth.

Farrell said she accepted she often disagreed with the mayor, but she did not think it was true that she voted against everything.

Purdy also asked the mayor why women had not been included in many committees.

The new structure has the full council meeting and eight other committees. Councillor Hamish Daine (who is also the deputy mayor) sits on all but one of these. Purdy sits on the council and two committees. Farrell sits on only council and one other committee.

"My choice, and I'll cop that, okay?" replied the mayor.

Purdy said she has been removed from two other committees and she would have appreciated being told in advance about the decision.

"It just would have been really respectful and kind to hear that from you in person as our mayor. I know I'm not in the call-tree - I haven't been in your call-tree for eighteen months, others are - but it would have just been nice, Gary, to have a heads-up," Purdy said.

Daine said that he did not receive the committee information in advance either.

"There's this big conspiracy that some councillors know more then others, but hand on heart I can tell you I didn't know anything ... about the committee structure until I received the agenda," he said.

In a split vote, the council received the mayor's report and then headed into a public excluded session. As the public left, the mayor told Purdy, who had left her seat, that the meeting had not closed yet.