Yesterday, the Otago Daily Times asked Mayor Sophie Barker and the council questions concerning recent comments by Cr Ong and an upcoming decision on a code of conduct complaint against him.
A spokesman said the council would not make any further comment on Cr Ong, ‘‘as it only encourages him to continue his appalling behaviour’’.
‘‘We respectfully suggest media do the same.’’
The complaint was laid by council chief executive Sandy Graham last month and concerned an apparent breach of confidentiality by Cr Ong.
In a draft preliminary report, leaked to media by Cr Ong last week, investigator Steph Dyhrberg said his actions could be a serious breach of the standard of behaviour expected of elected representatives.
Her final report will be considered by councillors in the non-public section of Monday’s council meeting. The meeting’s agenda said the matter would be dealt with behind closed doors due to commercial sensitivity.
When asked if the council’s approach was consistent with the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, the spokesman reiterated the council would make no further comment on Cr Ong.
Ms Barker did not respond to a request for comment.
When asked what he made of the council’s statement, Cr Ong alluded to legal action.
He said any such action should be publicly disclosed by the mayor and council.
Discussion of the code of conduct complaint was ‘‘newsworthy’’, and if he released the findings on Monday, it would lead to a ‘‘presumably infinite spiral of code of conduct complaints lodged against me by our council CEO and/or mayor’’.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday night, Cr Ong expressed frustration at restrictions, imposed by Ms Graham, on his access to confidential council information after he leaked a series of sensitive documents to media.
He also commented on the ongoing chief executive recruitment process.
In an email forwarded to media outlets by Cr Ong, Ms Barker asked him to remove the post as it appeared to breach the code of conduct and ‘‘our duties as an employer, including exposing us to legal action’’.
