The outspoken councillor yesterday released a series of emails between himself, Mr Cull, other councillors and staff, highlighting his attempts to demand answers over a stalled investigation into a possible merger of the DCC and Otago Regional Council.
However, in one exchange, after Cr Vandervis accused council chief executive Sue Bidrose of failing to execute the council's decisions, Mr Cull wrote back, accusing Cr Vandervis of "harassment".
Mr Cull said the accusations against Dr Bidrose were "plainly wrong", and after explaining why, cautioned the councillor that his repeated allegations were "harassment, tantamount to abuse and bullying".
"There have been numerous examples in the past of your abuse, particularly your propensity to abuse women," he added.
As a result, Mr Cull had advised Dr Bidrose to ignore or delete any similar emails from Cr Vandervis in future.
"I also advise that further abuse on your part may lead to public censure," he warned Cr Vandervis.
Cr Vandervis did not respond to Otago Daily Times questions yesterday, despite repeated requests for comment, including on Mr Cull's allegations.
Mr Cull said when contacted the emails were an example of the behaviour underpinning Cr Kate Wilson's move to curtail debate on the unitary council issue at Tuesday's council meeting.
He was also privy to reports by "numerous" female council employees, at many levels of the organisation, who had been left distressed - and in some cases in tears - either as a result of an encounter with Cr Vandervis, or in anticipation of one.
"It's verbal - swearing, sometimes, overbearing, bullying actions and abuse.
"My observation, my opinion, is he tends to target women more than men," Mr Cull said.
The ODT has been informed one encounter took place during a meeting outside council, but involving council representatives, earlier this year.
Cr Vandervis was said to have shouted, sworn and talked over three female council representatives at the meeting.
Dr Bidrose declined to comment yesterday when asked to confirm Mr Cull's allegations, and the number of complaints levelled against Cr Vandervis.
Mr Cull said the council had an obligation to be a good employer, and the behaviour created risks for the organisation "in today's world particularly".
"It puts council at risk if any elected member acts in such a way as is considered abusive or bullying. Council can be responsible, maybe financially," Mr Cull said.
The latest allegations followed an earlier incident in 2015, in which Cr Vandervis was temporarily stripped of his voting rights after being found to have engaged in bullying and aggressive behaviour as well as misleading a council subcommittee.
Three city councillors lodged complaints over his conduct, including accusing him of shouting and swearing at Dr Bidrose in a Municipal Chambers hallway and being "aggressive and abusive" towards the independent chairwoman of a council subcommittee, Susie Johnstone.
The conduct committee upheld all three complaints and temporarily stripped Cr Vandervis of his voting rights, after his apology for "loudness", but not other matters, was deemed insufficient.
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Comments
Anyone else spot the deliberate distraction here by Mayor Cull??
If his allegations had substance, then he has a process called the Code of Conduct that holds elected reps to account for their behaviour, and tests whether those allegations are actually true.
What Cull has done here is deliberately smear an elected rep to justify his, and his council's, wholly anti-democratic behaviour on a completely separate matter - the deliberate decision of the CE of the DCC to ignore a council resolution. Cull's 'ad hominem' attack is unworthy.
My thoughts exactly Michael.
Yes. But that's another Committee. If staff are being bullied, it needs to be dealt with in situ. I think Cr Wilson did so within standing orders.
Bit surprised, Michael. You were never one for bureaucracy on the much missed Radio Live.
Typical totalitarian response 'someone is standing up to me and making me look like a fool, better start a character assassination as soon as I can to take the heat off myself'
Cull, you're pathetic
This is Cull and his team to a T. Don't answer, don't provide information, sweep things under the carpet expecting people to go away, of course any person is going to get frustrated and become negative and change the tone of ones emails or verbal requests. Culls a cunning ......... Of course people will lose faith and swear, people are human. My take from this is been Lee has been wound up, not being given information and sworn and changed his tone of emails, not a biggie do your job people and it would not happen, I'd say it was cunningly planned by Cull and a few of his mates in council at the expense of Lee. Just shows Lee will not give up to keep others honest. whoop-de-doo he swore.
And here, in a nutshell, is why women are under-represented at senior levels of business. If your response to a complaint about not doing your job properly is to cry, sulk, and squawk 'harassment', then you're simply not up to the job. If you're not prepared to accept the bad things along with the good in senior positions, then you simply shouldn't be in those positions.
Such masculinist speculation deserves a statement from Sue Bidrose (who, sensibly, avoids comment threads).
There aren't actually any women openly saying they have been harassed - only Mayor Cull making vague claims that some have. And the CE herself has made no public statement as far as I know. I somehow can't picture her siting by the side of the road crying and waiting to be rescued if her Harley were to break down. It's pretty insulting to all women the way Mayor Cull characterizes them. Would anyone take a male CE seriously if he complained that a forceful councillor made him cry?
"The conduct committee upheld all three complaints and temporarily stripped Cr Vandervis of his voting rights, after his apology for "loudness", but not other matters, was deemed insufficient".
Loudness!?, What a joke. So all of cull's hot air and all they could 'get' Vandervis on was loudness.
Seems to me that most of this 'council' needs to be voted out for stifling debate and targeting other councillors instead of doing their jobs they are paid to do, using ratepayers money for their vanity projects whilst roads and infrastructure crumbles.
Someone at DCC intentionally ignored a council decision to investigate a Unitary council proposal.
Either council staff or councilors or both conspired to ignore an elected councils decision. Those faceless people refuse to admit they think their personal desires over ride council decisions.
Now we have Mr Cull once again attacking the only person on council who is standing up against the faceless schemers.
I know who I support, and it isn't a prancer who came to council on the promise of cutting costs and has done nothing other than the opposite ever since.
In the interests of honesty, openness and good journalism and to demonstrate ODT has no political bias., why don’t you print the emails in question which are online on Facebook on the Dunedn News page so people can judge for themselves?
and mr cull does NOTHING!
If Cull gets voted in yet again this year then we are in for another few years of this nonsense.
Go tell your parents/grandparents/great grandparents to stop voting for Cull, and start voting for someone who will do his/her job properly!
Good job Mr V! Don't give in to them
I wonder why this article features a professional photo of Mr Cull but a very amateur photo if Mr Vandervis. Was this intentional in order to attempt to scew public opinion of the parties? Another very recent article which also features photos of both men uses a different and far better image of Mr Vandervis.
A very novel conspiracy theory you have here. ODT manipulating reader opinions by the use of carefully selected facial images.
How could we have been so blind all these years?
Jeez David_M, you are scraping the bottom of the barrel now for a new angle on this story.