The complainant, Cr Benedict Ong, said he was to share a call with investigator Steph Dyhrberg yesterday evening.
This followed requests from Ms Dyhrberg for a written account from Cr Ong and drawn-out communication between them to arrange an interview, phone call or Teams meeting.
Emails Cr Ong shared with the Otago Daily Times showed Ms Dyhrberg was in recent days poised to "close the matter" if he did not agree to a time to meet or provide information requested.
Cr Ong has accused fellow councillor John Chambers of making "remarks against our South Asian community".
Ms Dyhrberg asked what Cr Chambers had said, but Cr Ong demurred.
On Wednesday last week, Cr Ong said Cr Chambers accused the South Asian community of acting in bad faith regarding educational intentions — he was hopeful a call with Ms Dyhrberg was no longer needed.
Ms Dyhrberg thanked Cr Ong for the information, but said it was insufficient for her to put to Cr Chambers for his response and for her to then make a preliminary assessment of the case.
"I need to know exactly what Cr Chambers said," Ms Dyhrberg said.
"Complainants are expected to be forthcoming about the conduct they allege breaches the code [of conduct]."
"Please spell it out for me so I can run a fair process ... Again, if I need to interview you to extract that information, I can do so."
On Friday last week, she said: "Without the detail of the alleged breaches, I can’t make an initial assessment and would need to close the matter."
Cr Ong replied he had provided details already, but also asked about potential times for a call.
Ms Dyhrberg followed up on Friday and again on Monday this week.
Ms Dyhrberg has yet to decide whether a full investigation should be carried out.
Cr Ong told the ODT he wanted an investigation to proceed.
A spokeswoman for the Dunedin City Council said the matter was ongoing and "as such, we have no further comment".
