Comments made to the media about council staff have landed Michael Laws - Otago Regional Council deputy chairman and former Whanganui Mayor - in hot water.
The code of conduct complaint was lodged by council chief executive Sarah Gardner on August 16. But Laws is fighting back with claims that codes of conduct, throughout the entire country, are a blight on local democracy as they are empowering chief executives to silence critics and dodge accountability. Michael talks us through the specifics of his case and lays out just how corrupt council's codes of conduct are.
Get yourself up to speed in this quick but informative episode, because taking on codes of conduct is shaping up to be another major fight for the Free Speech Union www.fsu.nz/join