Motorsport: Redman wants others to quit over V8s

Photo / Getty Images

Pressure is mounting for Hamilton City Council's second-most powerful bureaucrat to fall on his sword for his role in the V8 fiasco that left the city with a $40 million blowout.

The council's former mayor and chief executive, Michael Redman, who resigned from his top post in Auckland after a damning audit into the failed street race, has now called on deputy chief executive Blair Bowcott and 10 councillors responsible for bringing the V8s to Hamilton to follow suit.

And former Hamilton mayor Margaret Evans yesterday demanded the councillors and managers resign, calling it "daft" that the council was still taking advice on how to solve problems from staff who were responsible for getting them into the mess.

"Every single person who had a key role in all of this councillors and managers and that includes the communications team because it was all the spin that caused this problem the entire financial mis-management over the last 10 years is a case study of ineptness," Ms Evans said.

But Mr Bowcott defended his role and indicated he planned to stay on.

Mr Redman, who resigned from Auckland's Tourism Events and Economic Development on Friday, has rejected the main findings of the Audit New Zealand report. He said he quit because the reaction to it had made it impossible to continue in his role.

He said it was not plausible management acted without the council's knowledge, and called on staff, including Mr Bowcott and councillors, to resign. Seven councillors spoken to by the Herald said they had no intention of resigning over the debacle.

The V8 audit will be debated by councillors on November 9.