Radich silent on why report not shared

Dunedin's mayor is refusing to say why some city councillors have not yet been allowed to see an investigator’s report about their chief executive.

The conduct of Dunedin City Council chief executive Sandy Graham was investigated by a King’s Counsel and this led to an apology to a staff member.

• Claim councillors being gagged

Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich had no explanation yesterday for why the report by Maria Dew, KC, had not been shared with all councillors.

He also did not answer a series of questions from the ODT.

The ODT understands there has been disquiet among councillors about lack of access to the report.

The council also seemed to state yesterday the report would not be released to the public.

‘‘This is not a public investigation,’’ a council spokesman said.

‘‘This is an employment matter where we have legal and privacy obligations to support all parties.

‘‘Council will therefore not be releasing a copy of the investigator’s report, nor any other information that compromises the privacy of our employees.’’

Any allegation relating to staff conduct was taken seriously, the spokesman said.

Council staff outlined the process that had been undertaken.

Councillors voted earlier this year to establish a decision-making committee with authority to consider the investigator’s report and make a final decision on behalf of the full council, the spokesman said.

‘‘Councillors also approved funding for the investigation,’’ he said.

‘‘The cost of the investigation will be released in due course.’’

The council had taken the complaint ‘‘extremely seriously, employing a KC to investigate thoroughly’’.

Its decision-making committee had fully considered the report and legal advice and made a decision in accordance with its delegation from the full council, the spokesman said.

Questions unanswered by the mayor from an email to him on Monday included why he had not denounced the behaviour that was apologised for.

Mr Radich did not say what steps were taken to determine whether Ms Graham’s apology was appropriate.

He referred the ODT yesterday to a previous statement, which included that he had full confidence in Ms Graham and the matter was now closed.

East Taieri businessman Andrew Simms, who has called for the investigator’s report to be released, said it would be naive to classify the issue as purely a private employment matter.

‘‘The community and the council have got an absolute right to know what’s in that report,’’ he said.