Investigation into councillor's use of slur costs council $8000

More than $8000 was spent investigating a Gore district councillor's use of a slur to describe a staff presentation.

Councillor Donna Bruce told fellow councillor Robert McKenzie a presentation was "gay" during a workshop in April. McKenzie then made a code of conduct complaint against her.

She apologised during a meeting in late June and councillors decided not to admonish her further, with one describing it as a "storm in a teacup" that had caused a lot of stress, wasting time, money and energy.

The cost of the investigation was revealed in a report from chief executive Debbie Lascelles at a Gore District Council meeting on Tuesday as part of a late paper.

The final bill was $8200 plus GST.

The council confirmed $22,169 plus GST had been spent on code of conduct complaints between July 2024 and July 2026, but said the details were confidential.

James Cowan from Anderson Lloyd investigated the complaint and found the breach was not significant or serious, but using the slur failed to treat the staff members who created and gave the presentation with respect.

He described it as a one-off incident.

In the June meeting, Bruce apologised if any staff were offended and said the investigation had caused stress, anxiety and sleepless nights.