Responses from the general public to "Ruby" Timms' hoax call are being taken into account by the councillors of Environment Southland and no doubt by on-holiday chairman Timms herself. This one from today's "YOUR VIEW" column of the Southland Times has it right, in my view:
Resignation call
Ali Timms should resign as chairwoman of Environment Southland immediately.
Her deceitful action was deliberate and premeditated, and there is no place in local government for such unacceptable and dishonest behaviour.
In 1995, when Hon John Carter, Bay of Islands MP rang a Northland radio station and pretended to be a Maori called Hone he was sacked as senior whip.
Ms Timms behaviour has been widely reported throughout the country and featured on television.
Environment Southland by association has been brought into disrepute.
Environment Southland councillors as a whole have compounded the issue by agreeing to a six-week stand down, when in fact decisive action was required.
Mayor Tim Shadbolt deserves congratulations for his dignity and composure throughout this unsavoury incident.
TERRY KING
Invercargill
Saturday, December 15, 2012
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12 comments:
Terry King was a Shadbolt side kick whom when in council had his nose into the ratepayer trough as much as Shadbolt !! King is definitely a member of the Invercargill old boys network marrying ?? whose family connections are of the old boys network !!
No as a ICC ratepayer I want the very relevant questions that Ali asked to be answered by Shadbolt .... lets not forget this Jaffa has a history of loss leading marketing ideas for Invercargill ...losses that the ICC ratepayers have had to pick up the economic losses from in the past!!
The questions were good, pauline.
Other aspects of the discussion not good at all.
A Shadbolt side-kick, eh and Old Boy to boot!
Who have thought?
Did your council require some sort of atonement from her for putting you all in disrepute? Was there a censure of any kind?
Only if you call a 6-week well-paid holiday a censure, Anonymous.
I don´t. It was a self-imposed 'penalty' and not the one many of the councillors were suggesting she should honorably choose.
I don't see how she could hope to keep her position as chairwoman. She behaved fraudulently, telling lies publicly, to the Mayor for God's sake! Do the other councilors think that's acceptable? Do you?
I don't, but there are councillors who seem more 'relaxed' about it. The shared statement that we released to the media says it all though:
"Councillors have unanimously expressed our extreme disapproval of the unacceptable lack of judgment shown by chairman Ali Timms."
Some seem to think that it will all be forgotten by the time the next meeting comes around and that that would mean no further action would need to be taken by the council. I don't think 'out of sight, out of mind' is a suitable mechanism for a council to operate with.
Has your council got the balls to do the right thing and sack her? After all, she's completely destroyed any credibility she might have had by lying like that. Who could trust her from now on? A person holding a position of trust like chairman of a council can't hope to tell lies to the public and get off unscathed. The responsibility to act ethically now lies with your councilors. And with you!
It's hard to argue with that, Anonymous.
There are varying views, of course, but all councillors were chastened when they watched the video of the Shadbolt/Ruby interview in the boardroom (some hadn't seen it, some declared they didn't want to see it!)
How each feels at the end of six weeks remains to be seen but I can't see what might happen between now and then that would change the all-councillor statement that I quoted above.
Sorry guys but I see this whole anti Ali campaign a gross over reaction and a bit pathetic really what she did is in relaity a bit of storm in a tea cup ..
NO I want Shadbolt to answer the highly relevant questions Ali asked .... I was glad someone with knowledge was prepared to put him on the spot ..
What Ali did wrong was not to give her real name IF she did the conversation would have been real real interesting, with possible media follow up !!
Pauline - with all due respect, you are conflating two arguments - the yacht race debate, of which I have no opinion nor interest, and the behaviour of our chairwoman. Regardless of what she said about the proposed yacht event, she lied, repeatedly, in public, to a person (the Mayor) with whom she has/had a professional relationship and the responsibility that goes with that. She also cannot separate herself from her ES chairmanship, unless she declares that her on-Cue opinions were her own. She didn't even do that. Her behaviour affects the whole council, councillors and staff, who are now seen to be lead by someone who has proved herself to be dishonest. It's not an 'anti-Ali' thing, it's an integrity, honesty thing, in my view. The councilors unanimously decided that her behaviour was unacceptable. they can hardly claim now that they accept it, can they?
Ms Timms represents the council, especially in her discussions with other leaders of local government, and in this instance, she has brought the council into disrepute.
Not only did she "not give her real name" but she made a number of other untrue claims and denied her real identity when prompted to by an embarassed Mayor Tim. In response to being revealed as dishonest, her response was to attempt to minimize the issue, as though it wasn't serious. The numerous phone calls and discussions I have received/had from responsible community figures tell me that it is a very serious issue and can't be dodged with casual dismissals, such as 'it's only a prank' and 'end of story'.
Ali may have had a point but my way of thinking, with her dishonesty it is now lost. It has also created a problem as to bias and conflict at the table with predetermination.
I believe the the yacht race has some merit but not at the ratepayers expense.As for South Port it is only ES trading arm the same as Holdco and I would not expect them to finance a private event.
You make some good points, Charlie. Ms Timms won't be able to be involved in council discussions around any proposed issues that she covered as "Ruby", the yacht race in particular. Not only will they see her as biased in her views, expressed so strongly during her television appearance, but they'll question her honesty as well. That will be the case with anything she says from now on, in my opinion. I can certainly see your point around ratepayer involvement with the proposed race. That's a hot potato that I'm glad I'm not handling. I'm keeping my thoughts, such as they are, to myself. As "Ruby" should have done.
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