Olivia Wensley, who ran for mayor in 2022, said she believed Glyn Lewers showed his true colours.
"Everything he said sounded angry," she said.
Mrs Wensley said on her public Facebook page that he offered no honest answers at the debates and added "he leaned on consultant crafted PR spin, parroting jargon like ‘economic leakage’."
Since her post, Mrs Wensley had received an email from Mr Lewers’ PR agent, Celia Crosbie, of Wānaka-based public relations (PR) agency Scope communications, suggesting some content in her posts were defamatory.
Mr Lewers confirmed he was paying Scope for his media campaign this election.
Mrs Wensley said Mr Lewers’ PR agent "sent me an unsolicited email accusing me of being defamatory for mentioning her role in my social media posts".
The email came about after Mrs Wensley notified the council that Mr Lewers had left political pamphlets at the Queenstown recreation centre, which was in breach of local election standards, because the building is council owned.
Mrs Wensley said she was surprised to receive an email from Mrs Crosbie, and suggested she was being silenced by the mayor’s PR team.
"In a democracy, the public must be able to question who is shaping the mayor’s image."
Mrs Crosbie did not respond to the Wānaka Sun’s attempts to make contact.
When the mayor was notified that his PR agency had privately contacted his former rival about her opinions, he said the matter bordered on silliness.
"Celia is part of a group of friends helping me out ... Celia is a private individual, she can do whatever she likes, she is not acting on behalf of me when she sends that email."
Mrs Wensley said the incident showed the mayor was not happy for the public to have free discussion.
"You can’t claim to build trust while your PR is trying to silence criticism."
Mr Lewers remained unbothered by the Facebook comments around his capability as mayor and campaign methods.
"She can say whatever she likes, I have no issues with it."
