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A Stratford district councillor was yesterday voted off several committees by his peers, as punishment for threatening the council's chief executive officer with physical violence.
Graeme Kelly was told by Mayor Brian Jeffares that his behaviour was unacceptable to the council as an employer and had to be dealt with as a breach of the council's code of conduct.
Mr Jeffares said he had been concerned for some time about a deterioration in the relationship between Mr Kelly and chief executive Michael Freeman.
"There had been an exchange of letters between them and, two weeks ago, I invited them into my office to clear the air. During that conversation, Mr Kelly made two threats of violence towards Mr Freeman. The threat became a promise of bodily harm."
Any reasonable employer could not allow that behaviour to continue, he said.
It is understood a number of issues had provoked the conflict between Mr Kelly and Mr Freeman.
- NZPA
