He complained about another councillor, but now Dunedin city councillor Benedict Ong\u2019s own behaviour is under scrutiny.<\/p>\n
Dunedin City Council chief executive Sandy Graham confirmed yesterday she had lodged a complaint about his conduct.<\/p>\n
The alleged breach of the council\u2019s code of conduct will be assessed by independent investigator Steph Dyhrberg.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I won\u2019t be making any further comment during the investigation,\u2019\u2019 Ms Graham said.<\/p>\n
Ms Dyhrberg was last month appointed by the council to look into a complaint by Cr Ong against fellow city councillor John Chambers.<\/p>\n
She is in the process of making a preliminary assessment about this.<\/p>\n
The council has not said what the complaint against Cr Ong is about.<\/p>\n
However, it came within 24 hours of Cr Ong sending Ms Graham and the\u00a0Otago Daily Times\u00a0an accusatory email about a council staff member and also possibly breaching confidentiality.<\/p>\n
Cr Ong said in a social media post yesterday the complaint against him was \u2018\u2018no big surprise\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
He would not be deterred from \u2018\u2018serving the most special great city in our great country\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
Cr Ong has had a tumultuous start to the term.<\/p>\n
In meetings this week, he was asked several times to stay on topic and to be concise when asking questions.<\/p>\n
Cr Ong submitted two notices of motion before next week\u2019s council meeting, covering subjects such as \u2018\u2018exploring innovative debt financing structures\u2019\u2019 and consideration of international visitor fees for cultural institutions.<\/p>\n
Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker said yesterday \u2018\u2018neither has been accepted at this stage\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
She expected such issues could be covered in the 2027-37 long-term plan process.<\/p>\n