Outspoken deputy says mayor out to gag her
BY MATT CALMAN
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Wellington
Porirua Deputy Mayor Litea Ah Hoi claims her council is trying to gag her - and has offered to quit after being told to "tone down" her language by Mayor Jenny Brash.
Ms Ah Hoi offered to resign as deputy mayor during a two-hour meeting this week after Mrs Brash reprimanded her for comments in a Dominion Post article about the death of three-year-old Cherishsiliala Tahuri-Wright.
Ms Ah Hoi, speaking on behalf of the allegedly murdered toddler's father, criticised a delay in getting her to hospital and said: "It really pisses me off to think they dicked around for a couple of hours while a little girl was dying."
Mrs Brash said she had asked Ms Ah Hoi to tone down her "colourful" language - and not to speak as the deputy mayor when commenting in a personal capacity. But the mayor was adamant she had not tried to gag her deputy.
"The last thing I want to do is to gag anybody. I will defend her right to the hilt to speak out on anything but she shouldn't be quoted as [the deputy mayor] unless she's speaking for me.
"If it's the East, fine. If it's the Samoan community, give her a ring. I'm proud of her being my deputy mayor, but I don't agree with her language. That reflects on her and me and the city."
Mrs Brash raised the issue after receiving three letters of complaint about Ms Ah Hoi's comments and an email from the council's senior communications manager, Barbara Bercic, asking her to ask Ms Ah Hoi to tone down her language.
An unrepentant Ms Ah Hoi said it was not the first time her media statements had caused friction with council colleagues.
"I'm interpreting it as being gagged. She asked me for reassurance that I would not be quoted as the deputy mayor. I said I can't give that reassurance because I have no influence over the media."
She said that, when she offered to "relinquish the title", Mrs Brash turned the offer down.
Mrs Brash is expected to stand down as mayor at next year's election. Ms Ah Hoi confirmed she intended to run for the position.
Councillor Nick Leggett, who is also considering a bid, said Ms Ah Hoi was doing a good job and her actions did not warrant quitting.
"Anybody that knows Litea knows she uses colourful language. People can relate to it. The only thing that does concern me with the media is every issue that she's quoted for reinforces the perception that Porirua is poor and destitute."
- © Fairfax NZ News
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We live in an era where we are defined in part by our occupations or lack there of. Though she may speak in a personal capacity, most readers would make the association that she is indeed Deputy Mayor. As always we are each entitled to our own opinion and although her language is not "PC", it seems this debate is detracting from the important issue which was another case where a small child has lost their life unnecessarily in New Zealand.
As a Porirua East resident, it concerns me that Litea uses the 'Porirua City Deputy Mayor' name when she is not on PCC business.
If she is representing the City, then fine, but if she is a family spokesman then she is a family spokesman and not a PCC spokesman.
She shouldn't resign as she does an excellent job however she should not be allowed to use a tagline that does not relate to the job being performed.
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its great to see someone like Ms Ah Hoi who is a born and bred PTown women achieve what she has, she is an example for the next generation of young Pacific Island women leaders coming through the ranks that with hard work and dedication much can be acheived, however with that role comes the responsibilty of leading by example, in my view the use of colourful language in any context tends to discredit any hard work that has been acheived, and lends weight to the opinion by Mr Legget that PTown is a poor and destitue place. Anyone who has grown up in the area knows that while PTown has its problems like anywhere else in the country it is far from that.