This was a prominent theme of a discussion Cr Benedict Ong said he had with independent investigator Steph Dyhrberg, who is looking into Cr Ong’s complaint about Cr John Chambers.
Cr Ong gave the Otago Daily Times a copy of what he said was the transcript of his January 27 interview with Ms Dyhrberg.
It included assertions from Cr Ong, such as "I think you have what you need now" and "I’ve given you what you’ve asked for".
"Sorry, no, you haven’t," Ms Dyhrberg said.
"I have more questions."
Engaging her in debate about whether she needed to ask such questions was not helpful, she told Cr Ong.
"It would be really helpful if you could just answer my questions," she said at one point.
Cr Ong had complained about what he claimed were "discriminatory remarks" by Cr Chambers last year about the South Asian community.
Ms Dyhrberg is making a preliminary assessment about that and she is looking into something else — a complaint about Cr Ong laid by Dunedin City Council chief executive Sandy Graham.
This is understood to relate to commentary by Cr Ong about a staff member.
The transcript of his interview with Ms Dyhrberg included an attempt by her to establish the context of alleged comments by Cr Chambers.
Cr Ong suggested there was none, other than that they happened at a workshop and in a conversation afterwards.
Ms Dyhrberg told him she had done quite a few code of conduct investigations.
"I want to investigate this, if appropriate, but you just keep telling me you’ve already told me and I’m telling you ... I’m not inexperienced in these processes.
"I wouldn’t be asking these questions if I didn’t need to know."
Cr Ong noted the investigation was preliminary and said "it should proceed beyond that".
Just before their discussion ended, Ms Dyhrberg asked Cr Ong if he had anything else he thought was relevant at this point.
"That’s it. I think you can proceed with this," Cr Ong said.
"Well, that’s my decision," she replied.
"Yes. Well, I believe you can."
