Ombudsman Peter Boshier has ruled Waipā District Council is entitled to withhold weekly mail outs from Good Local Media, citing obligations of confidence, free and frank nature, and legal privilege.
Waipa District Council workshop
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier
Boshier also rejected Good Local Media’s request for information about public excluded workshops, where we alleged councillors discussed matters away from public scrutiny and made decisions that were later rubber-stamped in open meetings.
Good Local Media made its first complaint about the issues in late 2023 and learned last month in a preliminary finding that they had been rejected.
The council had anticipated “a favourable response” when referring to the issue in a January Quarterly Assurance Report considered at this week’s Audit and Risk committee meeting.
Good Local Media publishes free weekly community newspapers in Cambridge, Te Awamutu and King Country and a monthly business publication.
When the council partially refused requests for information in September 2023, Good Local Media went to the Ombudsman and requested an investigation and review of the council’s decisions.
In February 2024, the council reconsidered its decision and released some information. Boshier’s office said that meant it did not have to consider our complaint about the mail outs under the grounds it would prejudice the commercial position of the person or enable the council to carry on negotiations without prejudice or disadvantage.
The mail outs are sent out weekly on a Friday to councillors and council staff. The council told the Ombudsman it considered there was little if any public interest in them.
The council argued its public excluded workshops were not decision-making forums and were used to discuss partially formed ideas.
Roy Pilott
Editorial director Roy Pilott accepted the Ombudsman’s decision but said the council’s control over the release of information, and use of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act had become a conflict of interest issue.
The council said it sent out any information that was of public interest by other means arguing its media releases and website cover what would be of interest to the public.
“We are better judges of that than council’s own in-house communications staff who become not only the gatekeepers of council information – able to time its responses to us – but have also become our biggest media rival.”
Pilott said he found it “chilling” to think the Ombudsman supported behind closed doors workshops because staff and councillors may be unwilling to express themselves openly, honestly, and completely in public.
Staff took councillors’ views from those workshops and in some cases acted on them as if they were final.
Pilott gave the example of a public excluded workshop held in December where councillors agreed to a staff request to move meetings from Tuesdays to Wednesdays and to exclude “Information Only” reports which Good Local Media relied on to form the basis of articles.
The change of days were advertised several days before the public council meeting to vote on the decision was held.
Pilott said the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, far from opening doors to the public, had become a default mechanism for councils to delay answering questions for up to 20 working days.
Workshop
Good Local Media made the original complaint to the Ombudsman after Boshier called for councils to open workshops by default to reduce the perception decisions were being made behind closed doors.
“It was like reading a report on Waipā District Council practices,” said Pilott.
“Waipā has throughout this term met in public excluded workshops, discussed issues of interest to residents and ratepayers and made decisions.
“Council staff and the councillors themselves might say it is only to give staff guidance, but I disagree. Residents and ratepayers are being robbed of the opportunity to see and hear elected members give their views and debate issues of interest to them.”
Boshier reinforced his advice last week, telling a Local Democracy reporter many councils had followed his advice.
“As a matter of good practice, workshops should be closed only where it is reasonable and I expect good records to be kept,” he told the reporter.
In his written response to the preliminary finding Pilott said Boshier appeared to be taking a contradictory view with the Good Local Media finding, but Boshier said that was not accurate.
“Rather, it appears that he (Pilott) is conflating two different topics, those being open council workshops and the council’s weekly staff mail-out.
“In other words, the information at issue and the context in this investigation is quite different to what was discussed in my 2023 report.”
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