Editorial: Episode shows what Super City could rid us of

Unprofessional behaviour has been the hallmark of Mr Williams' time in office. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Opinion

There would be no point in Andrew Williams relinquishing the North Shore mayoralty over allegations that he urinated in public and drove home after drinking at a Takapuna restaurant.

With the introduction of the Super City imminent, a resignation would be a pointless distraction.

Nonetheless, the episode that prompted calls for him to step down, with several previous incidents, cast a considerable shadow over his plan, announced yesterday, to stand for an unspecified position on the Auckland Council.

Indeed, it suggests that one of the benefits of the Super City will be the demise of local-body mayors of his ilk.

Mr Williams' mayoralty has been one of repeated misjudgments. He seemed to shock himself in winning the office and has been struggling ever since.

This was evident as much in the aftermath of the latest occurrence as in the incident itself.

His response to questioning was vague and unconvincing. Then there was the early calling of yesterday's press conference, a move that, inevitably, set the scene for a media circus.

This smacked of attention-seeking. Mr Williams was never about to bow to calls for his resignation from the Local Government Minister, Rodney Hide, and a letter signed by five councillors and four community board members.

This calculated and cavalier use of the media amounted to no more than self-promotion.

Defenders of Mr Williams point to his staunch opposition to some of the Super City reforms, as well as the pressure he has put on the Government over the leaky-homes debacle.

They talk of "dirty tricks" and say there is some sort of plot, hatched within the ranks of the Act Party, to get rid of him.

Any such suggestion, however, skates over unprofessional behaviour, at times verging on the self-destructive, that has been the hallmark of Mr Williams' time in office.

There was the occasion in 2008 when he collapsed at a Devonport Naval Base function and lashed out at ambulance officers who took him to North Shore Hospital.

Then there is his penchant for dispatching emails that are inappropriate in both tenor and timing. Last December, Prime Minister John Key described texts from Mr Williams as "aggressive" and "obnoxious".

They were allegedly sent as late as 3.30am. North Shore MP Wayne Mapp indicated that he, too, had been the recipient of such errant messages.

Even on the night of the alleged urinating outside the council offices, Mr Williams sent an email at 11.37pm to senior staff about a visit to the council next day by Mr Hide and the Acting Housing Minister.

This observed that the pair deserved "any and all appropriate comments in relation to this rape and pillage of the North Shore by this Auckland takeover".

The extravagance of the language provides eloquent backing for Mr Key's complaint.

Mr Williams has sought to explain away such occurrences with talk, variously, of being on painkillers, of suffering from dehydration and of exhaustion from an overseas trip. This is unpersuasive.

On the latest episode, he has chosen neither to confirm nor deny that he relieved himself on a tree outside the council building. He also termed the allegations "irrelevant" and "trivia".

The latter might just be so if this were an isolated occurrence. No one needs to know anything more about his toilet habits.

The repeated instances of unprofessional behaviour suggest that Mr Williams is, in terms of character and disposition, simply unsuited to the mayoralty.

By dint of circumstance, he may survive until the advent of the Super City. But that restructuring will, hopefully, deliver local body politicians of much greater poise and professionalism.