Mr Stevens said he had not asked anyone's permission to sell the name plate.
"It belongs to the community and I'm selling it on behalf of the community. I'm not keeping the money for myself - it's all going straight to the council."
He said the idea had come from rural community board member Erin Reeve: "She sowed the seed, and I picked it up and ran with it."
Mr Stevens put the auction up on Tuesday evening with a $1 reserve. By 5pm yesterday it had attracted 32 bids and had reached $102.
In the questions-and-answers section of the auction, one person asked: "This has to be a joke surely?"
Mr Stevens replied: "Deadly serious. The value, if any, will be determined by the bidders here."
Another asked if Mr Stevens could provide a plate with John Key's name on it.
"Sorry, John Key is not a member of the Wanganui District Council," Mr Stevens said.
He had not discussed the auction with Mr Laws, he said. "He might want to put in a bid as a gesture of goodwill towards Wanganui."
Mr Laws did not respond to questions from the Wanganui Chronicle.
The only comment Mr Stevens received from council colleagues was from one who said: "You obviously don't have enough to do, Ray."
Mr Stevens said he took being a councillor seriously: "But I like to enjoy myself, too."
