BRISK DEBATE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 264, 1 July 1932, Page 7

BRISK DEBATE

COUNCIL MEETING mayor contends dip not understand raflng figures. COUNCILLORS SURPRISED. There were^an exceedingly lively few minutes at the Opotiki Borough Council meeting on W ednesday night immediately after the adoption of the traffic inspector's report. No sooner did the question of confirming the rates come up than Cr. Hitchens stated that the mayor had come to him and told him that the. figures passed to Councillors Shalfoon and Moody at a recent meeting were different to those passed to the rest of 'the council, and had practically accused the town clerk of being responsible for this.' Cr. Budd immediately protested that ho statement of this kind, made outside the council chamber, should be brought up inside the chamber before the council. His Worship replied that he did not make any statement of this sort to Cr. Hitehens or to anyone else. He merely said that he was unable to make the two sets of figures agree. Cr. Short said that he had been told by a prominent business man that His Worship had approached him and asked if he could give him an explanation of the figures. Cr. Budd again objeeted very sti'ongly to statements by members of the general public being quoted in the council chamber without names being mentioned. Cr. Hitchens hpmediately mentioned the borough foreman, and Cr. Short offered to approach his informant to know if his name might be mentioned. Councillor Tabb said that he. and Cr. Moody compared their sets of figures and they were exactly the same. Different Figures. His Worship said that he referred to two totally different sets of figures, one of which was given out on a Tuesday, and the other on a Thursday night. ' Cr. Budd expressed the opinion that His Worship was quite. justified in asking a business man to assist him in understanding two sets of figures. Cr/ Hitchens again asserted that the mayor had insinuated that he (the mayor) had received a different set of figures to those handed.to the councillors. His Worship again denied this. The town clerk then stated that he had been approached by several outsiders and told that the mayor had said that a different set of figures had been handed to him to those handed to his councillors. These various townspeople seemed to think that the speaker had falsified these figures for some obscure purpose of his own. Councillors Budd, Moody, and Shalfoon said they had not heard anything of the rumour. Councillor Tabb suggested that the matter would be cleared up if his Worship stated that he did not. understand the figures and had not intended to cast any aspersions on the fcharacter of the Town Clerk. His Worshin stated. at this rioint.

that he still did not understand the figures but that he had only done what Councillor Tabb suggested. The whole of the councillors expressed surprise at this. Councillor Budd expressed the view that the whole matter was paltry and after a short diseussion on the question of offering a rebate for prompt payment the rates were confirmed as allocated.