Gang members celebrate council vote

The Herald reports:

The Local Government Minister is questioning why patched members of a gang were able to wear their regalia inside a council building when a ban is in force.

The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council faces backlash over a Facebook post featuring photos of patched gang members celebrating the decision in its council chambers to retain its Māori constituencies.

On Wednesday, in what was described as a “significant step towards ensuring Māori representation”, the council voted unanimously to keep its Māori wards. This means there will be a binding poll at the next local government elections in 2025.

But the Facebook post released by the council soon after featuring photos of patched gang members celebrating the decision has been met with frustration from Simeon Brown, who is surprised a current patch ban was not enforced at a meeting.

Members of the public also hit the comment section with concerns about the presence of gang members in the meeting.

Members of the public will be grateful that they will get to decide the issue in a secret ballot, rather than have the final decision made at a Council meeting with patched gang members in attendance to support one particular view.

The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council justified its decision in the Facebook comments.

“We acknowledge that seeing gang paraphernalia can be distressing to some people, and we appreciate your feedback on our post,” it said.

“Regional Council meetings are open to all members of the public and our post is a factual record of this meeting. We do not have the authority to exclude members of the public who are following our meeting rules.”

This is nonsense. If a dozen people tried to enter the meeting naked, the Council would not allow them to do so. The Council does have the authority to tell people that they must be dressed in accordance with the law, to enter. Bars do this every day.

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