Heritage advocate Jo Galer yesterday joined employment lawyer Rachel Brazil who days earlier left the Future Dunedin ticket to stand as an independent candidate.
Ms Galer told the Otago Daily Times while she felt supported by Mr Simms, she believed co-founder Rebecca Twemlow was the one running the group and other members were "questioning their allegiance".
Ms Twemlow hit back by accusing Ms Galer of being focused "almost entirely on heritage".
Mr Simms said he was pleased this was happening now "and not happening a week after the election".
"Those that are lucky enough to be elected are going to have to work together after October 11, so we’re probably better to find out who the team players are now than then."
Ms Galer’s departure had come at such a late stage in the process after an "enormous amount of effort and a considerable amount of money" had been spent to get the Future Dunedin candidates to where they were now.
"I could be excused for feeling used in that respect, I think.
"If they were withdrawing because they’d had second thoughts about running, that would be a bit easier to accept.
"But to withdraw and then run independently, I don’t think it does us any good and I don’t think it does them any good."
The ticket had been allowed to get too large to begin with, Mr Simms said.
He had contacted all the remaining Future Dunedin ticket members yesterday and they had reassured him they were fully behind the campaign.
"I think what I’m seeing here is internal competition — people realising that, and then thinking, well, we’re not all going to get on, so it’s every man for himself, which is pretty disappointing when you sign up to a team."
Ms Twemlow could be regarded as the campaign manager, but everybody had input into what was happening and Ms Galer had not been treated differently to anybody else.
"There probably are some senior members, like you’d see probably in any political party or any political organisation ... but that’s happened, like it would in a team in the All Blacks or any other team, that’s just happened by natural selection."
Ms Galer said Ms Brazil was "a big reason" why she had joined the ticket, and her decision to leave had factored into her own.
The level of support shown to her by Mr Simms had not been reflected in the way the group was run, she said.
"There’s somebody else that’s running the group. It’s co-founded, isn’t it?
Ms Twemlow said she was entirely committed to building the team alongside Mr Simms.
"Most have appreciated that, others clearly have not."
Ms Galer’s focus was "almost entirely on heritage" and she had wanted to force compliance on property owners regardless of the cost or community impact.
"I could not and do not support that," Ms Twemlow said.
"Ratepayers are already under enormous pressure, and shifting expensive restoration burdens and zoning change requirements on to them or on to long-suffering charitable organisations is simply not fair or sustainable."
Ms Galer said Future Dunedin had turned out to be an incohesive group and she should have acted earlier.
"I was hoping the situation would improve but unfortunately this was not the case as evidenced by recent events and remarks made by Future Dunedin leadership," Ms Galer said.
"There are others questioning their allegiance to Future Dunedin, so I feel comfortable with my decision."
She had paid for a "significant amount" of her own campaign and believed she was a strong contender for council.
Ms Twemlow had misunderstood the heritage situation in the city, Ms Galer said.
While heritage was her passion, she was also concerned about the growth of the city and the "ridiculously high ratepayers’ burden".
"My campaign is multi-faceted with emphasis on the need for an international airport, rates reduction and creation of a wealth fund by selling off unused assets to limit pressure on ratepayers, as some examples."
In a post on social media at the weekend, fellow Future Dunedin candidate Amy Taylor distanced herself from comments Ms Twemlow made last week suggesting McDonald’s workers on strike could be automated out of their jobs.
In March, former member Robert Hamlin was removed from the Future Dunedin ticket after criticising the use of karakia.
He is also standing as an independent candidate.
