Buller Mayor Calls For Civility As Costs And Tempers Rise

Wednesday, 30 April 2025, 5:13 pm
Article: Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter

Buller’s mayor Jamie Cleine is calling for civility after a councillor saw red and stomped out of a council meeting last week.

Councillor Colin Reidy thumped the table, told a staff member he was “not putting up with that shit”; packed his bag and walked out - after what he said was a disrespectful answer to question on council debt.

Mr Cleine says the councillor’s behaviour was unacceptable and he is hoping for an explanation or apology from Cr Reidy at a council meeting this afternoon. 

No-one else had seemed to take offence at the staffer’s response to a question on debt levels by veteran Councillor Rosalie Sampson, the mayor said.

And other councillors with strong views on debt and council spending had all stayed in the room and argued their case, he added.

“Losing your rag regardless of the reason … the challenge for elected members is to convince your peers why you’re right and they’re wrong, and that’s the bit he doesn’t seem to get.”

Cr Reidy’s walkout followed an exchange between Corporate Services manager Paul Numan and Cr Sampson, who wanted to know when the council had agreed to raise its debt cap, and why its debt had risen by $11 million in eight months.

Mr Numan outlined the debt in percentage terms, noted the debt was “self-imposed.”

“And Rosalie, to answer your question, high level, the reason why that debt figure’s increased is because you’ve been spending money on capital projects so ...”

At that point, Cr Reidy banged the table, stood up and left, describing Mr Numan’s response as “totally disrespectful.”

Speaking to LDR after the meeting, the councillor said Cr Sampson who had asked a fair question and wanted clarity.

“She was being spoken down to, and I reacted to that. It just didn’t seem right, and it’s happening a lot recently – the staff speak to us like this if we question or challenge them.”

“The chair or the CEO should have intervened but they let it escalate, and that was wrong, so I don’t think I have anything to apologise for. ”

Rosalie Sampson told LDR she had not felt disrespected at the time of the incident and just wanted the meeting to continue peacefully.

But on reflection afterwards, the councillor said she felt she had been patronised.

“I was asking why the debt had risen so much in the last eight months and they should have been able to explain quickly and simply,” she said.

She understood why Cr Reidy had reacted as he did and would defend his actions if needed, Cr Sampson said.

The mayor said he would hope councillors and staff and the community in general would keep calm and carry on in the lead up to the council elections in September.

“People are under a lot of stress at the moment for various reasons; there’s the cost of living, there’s government demands on councils, there’s the debt, there’s the flood protection scheme that’s happening slowly and there’s the elections looming.”

Behaving civilly towards colleagues and staff was more important than ever at such times, Mr Cleine said.

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