Mayoral candidate Reynold Macpherson (left) and councillor Tania Tapsell have clashed over a Facebook post. Photo/ File
Mayoral candidate Reynold Macpherson (left) and councillor Tania Tapsell have clashed over a Facebook post. Photo/ File
A district councillor's request that the council issue an apology to a mayoral candidate for referring his comments to the police has been shut down by other councillors.
Councillor Peter Bentley requested the apology at a full council meeting today. It related to a post Reynold Macpherson made on his organisation's Facebook page, Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers, on May 14, in which he compared councillor Tania Tapsell to the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Rotorua Lakes Council described the post as hate speech and referred it to the police after the matter was raised during a confidential section of a council committee meeting earlier this month.
Today, Bentley raised the matter as an urgent item, saying the decision to refer the matter to police had "brought ridicule and derision from the public and the media".
He went on to request a letter of apology be sent to Macpherson for "involving the police in what was a spurious accusation".
Mayor Steve Chadwick initially said the issue was not urgent but changed her tune after councillor Rob Kent brought up another post of Macpherson's which he claimed was defamatory.
Rotorua Lakes councillor Peter Bentley called for an apology. Photo / File
When given the chance to speak further on the matter, Bentley said: "there's not a lot more to add".
Later he said he did not agree with or support the post on the association's Facebook page and was embarrassed by it, but had apologised himself.
Councillors around the table did not support Bentley's request.
Councillor Karen Hunt said she did not believe it was necessary.
Rotorua Lakes councillor Karen Hunt. Photo / File
"Bullies are very good at flinging mud ... If he's going to throw it and expect us to suck it up, he can jolly well suck it up himself."
Councillor Rob Kent supported Tapsell and said enough was enough.
"Macpherson should be held to account for his deliberate lies, his constant deliberate defamation and unwarranted personal attacks against anyone he considers to be a threat to his political aspirations.
The Rotorua Lakes Council met today. Photo / File
"I applaud counsellor Tapsell for standing up to him … You are already 10 times the politician he will ever be."
Chadwick and deputy mayor Dave Donaldson also backed the decision to refer the matter to the police.
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick. Photo / File
Referring to Macpherson, Donaldson said: "It's appropriate he tried to portray councillor Tapsell as a fairytale character because that's the land he lives in and he is always making his own fairytales up."
Macpherson told the Rotorua Daily Post he was honoured Bentley had requested an apology.
"The alleged comments by other councillors suggest to me that they continue to rely on personal slurs to dismiss my analysis and growing media and public concerns about their behaviour.
"Indeed, the growing chorus of criticism about the Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee's action indicates to me that I should offer more systematic evaluations of elected representatives' performances if we are to make Rotorua a better place."
