Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker says anyone who feels intimidated by Councillor Benedict Ong should call the police. Concerns over the councillor’s behaviour continue after he was asked to leave a public event twice on Saturday, before being removed by police. He then waited outside the event and followed an elderly woman and another person down the street despite them telling him they had to go, rested on their car while preparing his phone and took a thumbs-up selfie with them sitting in their car, windows up, behind him. Three days earlier he was thrown out of a student protest. Cr Ong says he was unfairly treated at both events. He did not directly address following the two people back to their car. Saturday night’s events were captured on a video that shows the councillor inside the event talking with an organiser and security who are clearly asking him to leave, before he is seen engaging with two people outside. [Missing Credit]Cr Benedict Ong argues with a security guard and meeting organiser Mike Chewie Bennett (left) while question co-ordinator Brie Elliott waits at a health debate in Dunedin on Saturday night. Photo: Supplied The two people, one of whom was Adam Macknight, go to leave and he follows them to their car. Mr Macknight, who filmed the video, said Cr Ong’s behaviour was “a bit intimidating” but they did not feel unsafe because there were a lot of people around and Cr Ong “wasn’t threatening”. “But the fact that he was following us down the street and then proceeded to take photos of our car was not OK.” The public meeting, organised by the Big Hairy Network, was billed as an evening of debate and conversation about the health system, featuring representatives from Labour, the Greens, Act and New Zealand First. About 200 people attended. Question co-ordinator and social media influencer Brie Elliott said Cr Ong came right up to her, towering over her a bit. “I said, ‘hey, like, you know, you can’t ask a question. We’ve already had the forum for that’ … And he was like, ‘well, I’m a councillor, so I should be able to ask a question. Are you saying that I can’t ask a question? That’s so unfair’,” she said. Security came over and removed from him the front and he sat back down. Ms Elliott said she felt intimidated by Cr Ong and was glad there was security in place. Debate co-organiser Mike “Chewie” Bennett said when Cr Ong subsequently started shouting over everyone he was removed by a police officer who was at the meeting. The behaviour was “deeply disappointing and challenging to deal with”, Mr Bennett said. Police confirmed one person was removed from the meeting. No charges were laid. It was the second time in a week Cr Ong was forcibly removed from a public event. Cr Ong was quiet during the march part of a student protest at the University of Otago last Wednesday, but “it got a little bit tense” when he tried to speak during a sit-in, and to de-escalate it one of the marshals escorted Cr Ong out, organiser Petra Campbell said. “He doesn’t sort of align with a lot of the people’s views in that space. It just wasn’t the right time for him to be speaking … the vibe was he was trying to do it for himself.” People at the health debate and who watched the videos posted to social media were dismayed. One called Cr Ong’s behaviour “stalkerish”; another said he “should not follow people, especially women, down the road at night, talking at them and stopping them from walking, and then continuing to talk at them in their car”. SUPPLIEDSophie Barker. Ms Barker said she was “incredibly concerned” about Cr Ong’s behaviour and the impact it was having on the public. “It makes me very concerned for people that are finding his behaviour intimidating … It’s a horrible thing to happen to anyone. “I think that the police would be the best place to complain to, because he is responsible for his own behaviour, and if it is a public nuisance, then they’re the best people to go to.” The mayor could not discipline councillors for their public behaviour. “We have a code of conduct and councillors and the chief executive can complain. However, I think we know that the code of conduct is pretty toothless. We’ve done all the punishment things that we can under a code of conduct, which is relieving of their duties and writing a letter, all of that stuff.” People needed to think hard about who they were electing, she said. It was very hard to get rid of councillors and she felt people perhaps took too many things at face value. “It’s really hard for democracy and that’s what makes it really hard, and I think that we’ve got to look at what can we do to try and make better elections.” Cr Ong told the Otago Daily Times on Sunday he was unfairly removed from both events. He paid $20 to attend the heath debate and when questions started being asked by others, he felt he could have his turn. When he went to see Ms Elliott, she knew exactly who he was and still denied him the ability to ask the question, he said. “The security laid their hands on me. But I explained to him I’m the city councillor for our city. I’m here to ask questions on behalf of a tremendous number of community members,” Cr Ong said. He talked to people who left the meeting as it ended, including some older people who appeared to have the same concerns about health as he did. He did not feel he did anything wrong in that interaction.
