Hamilton deputy mayor Gordon Chesterman is threatening court action over comments made by a member of the public criticising councillors during hearings on the city authority's long-term plan.
The Herald understands a letter was sent on behalf of Mr Chesterman from Hamilton law firm Harkness Henry to retired Waikato University professor Michael Law on Monday night saying court action would be taken if an apology was not made for the comments.
The offending comments about councillors were made by Mr Law when he presented his submission during the draft long-term plan hearings in May.
In the submission, the Hamilton East resident accused the councillors "of a lack of transparency and on the part of a number of councillors with respect to their own personal and family interests".
"This lack of transparency speaks to a lack of moral integrity on the part of those who have clearly used their council position to advance the interests of themselves and/of family/or cronies," he said.
