For information regarding the competence and accountabilities of the WCC electoral officer.
Richard Yossarian made this Official Information request to Wellington City Council
The request was refused by Wellington City Council.
From: Richard Yossarian
Dear Wellington City Council,
This is an official information request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).
This request is made to to gain information regarding the competence and accountabilities regarding the administration of Wellington City Council elections by the Wellington City Council be it through Wellington City Council employees or contractors.
The information requested is:
1. All policies, guidance or other documentation that the Wellington City Council has provided to the firm trading as electionz.com to ensure it is aware of the rules regarding local body elections, including any changes in advertising rules between the 2016, 2019 and 2022 Wellington City Council elections;
2. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to the Wellington City Council’s monitoring of whether the firm trading as electionz.com (including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council) is discharging its contracted duties competently and within the terms of its contract with the Wellington City Council;
3. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to how the Wellington City Council’s officers, elected officials and/or contractors may interact or correspond with the Electoral Officer;
4. All correspondence between Wellington City Council (including officers, elected officials and/or contractors) and the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council regarding advertising by Paul Eagle and/or his campaign;
5. All correspondence between Paul Eagle or his representatives and the Wellington City Council and/or the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council;
6. All correspondence between Justin Lester and/or Nick Leggett (including their representatives) and the Wellington City Council and/or the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council regarding the use of commercial billboards prior to the formal election hoarding period in the 2019 or 2016 Wellington City Council elections;
7. Any reviews of the of the administration of the 2019 or 2016 Wellington City Council elections undertaken by the Wellington City Council or its contractors; and
8. All contracts, agreements or other documents between the Wellington City Council and the firm trading as electionz.com regarding the firm’s contractual obligations, the sum the firm is paid by the Council and the term of any contracts.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Yossarian
From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council
Tēnā koe Richard
Thank you for your email dated 30/06/2022 requesting information about the
competence and accountabilities of the WCC electoral officer.
Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987 which requires us to provide a decision
as soon as possible, but no later than 28/07/2022, being 20 working days
of receipt.
The reference number for your request is IRC-3559.
Please contact us if you have any further questions.
Kind regards
The Assurance Team
Email: [1][email address]
Wellington City Council | W [2]Wellington.govt.nz | [3]Facebook|
[4]Twitter
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and
intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that
confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the
sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.
[5]http://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/Images...
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Yossarian <[FOI #19787 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 30 June 2022 6:21 pm
To: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - For information regarding the
competence and accountabilities of the WCC electoral officer.
Dear Wellington City Council,
This is an official information request under the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).
This request is made to to gain information regarding the competence and
accountabilities regarding the administration of Wellington City Council
elections by the Wellington City Council be it through Wellington City
Council employees or contractors.
The information requested is:
1. All policies, guidance or other documentation that the Wellington City
Council has provided to the firm trading as electionz.com to ensure it is
aware of the rules regarding local body elections, including any changes
in advertising rules between the 2016, 2019 and 2022 Wellington City
Council elections;
2. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to
the Wellington City Council’s monitoring of whether the firm trading as
electionz.com (including any employees or officers of this firm who are
acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council) is
discharging its contracted duties competently and within the terms of its
contract with the Wellington City Council;
3. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to
how the Wellington City Council’s officers, elected officials and/or
contractors may interact or correspond with the Electoral Officer;
4. All correspondence between Wellington City Council (including
officers, elected officials and/or contractors) and the firm trading as
electionz.com including any employees or officers of this firm who are
acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council regarding
advertising by Paul Eagle and/or his campaign;
5. All correspondence between Paul Eagle or his representatives and the
Wellington City Council and/or the firm trading as electionz.com including
any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral
Officer for the Wellington City Council;
6. All correspondence between Justin Lester and/or Nick Leggett
(including their representatives) and the Wellington City Council and/or
the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees or officers of
this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City
Council regarding the use of commercial billboards prior to the formal
election hoarding period in the 2019 or 2016 Wellington City Council
elections;
7. Any reviews of the of the administration of the 2019 or 2016
Wellington City Council elections undertaken by the Wellington City
Council or its contractors; and
8. All contracts, agreements or other documents between the Wellington
City Council and the firm trading as electionz.com regarding the firm’s
contractual obligations, the sum the firm is paid by the Council and the
term of any contracts.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Yossarian
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[6][FOI #19787 email]
Is [7][Wellington City Council request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests
to Wellington City Council? If so, please contact us using this form:
[8]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[9]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
3. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
4. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
6. mailto:[FOI #19787 email]
7. mailto:[Wellington City Council request email]
8. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
9. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
hide quoted sections
From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council
Kia ora Richard,
Thank you for your request made under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the Act), received on 04 July 2022. You requested the following information:
1. All information, correspondence, and/or supporting evidence that the Wellington City Council or its contractors that was considered to be the received 'heat', as described by Wellington City Council spokesperson Richard MacLean, that compelled the Wellington City Council to act on Paul Eagle MP's election advertising.
Wellington City Council received a number of tweets from the public in relation to the sign, as referred to by Mr MacLean. As such WCC has refused your request for information under section 17(d) of the Act, as the information is publicly available on Twitter Wellington City Council (@WgtnCC) / Twitter
Right of review
If you are not satisfied with the Council’s response, you may request the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the Council’s decision. Further information is available on the Ombudsman website, www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
Ngâ mihi
Claudia
Claudia Holgate
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Yossarian <[FOI #19787 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 30 June 2022 6:21 pm
To: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - For information regarding the competence and accountabilities of the WCC electoral officer.
Dear Wellington City Council,
This is an official information request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).
This request is made to to gain information regarding the competence and accountabilities regarding the administration of Wellington City Council elections by the Wellington City Council be it through Wellington City Council employees or contractors.
The information requested is:
1. All policies, guidance or other documentation that the Wellington City Council has provided to the firm trading as electionz.com to ensure it is aware of the rules regarding local body elections, including any changes in advertising rules between the 2016, 2019 and 2022 Wellington City Council elections;
2. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to the Wellington City Council’s monitoring of whether the firm trading as electionz.com (including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council) is discharging its contracted duties competently and within the terms of its contract with the Wellington City Council;
3. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to how the Wellington City Council’s officers, elected officials and/or contractors may interact or correspond with the Electoral Officer;
4. All correspondence between Wellington City Council (including officers, elected officials and/or contractors) and the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council regarding advertising by Paul Eagle and/or his campaign;
5. All correspondence between Paul Eagle or his representatives and the Wellington City Council and/or the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council;
6. All correspondence between Justin Lester and/or Nick Leggett (including their representatives) and the Wellington City Council and/or the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council regarding the use of commercial billboards prior to the formal election hoarding period in the 2019 or 2016 Wellington City Council elections;
7. Any reviews of the of the administration of the 2019 or 2016 Wellington City Council elections undertaken by the Wellington City Council or its contractors; and
8. All contracts, agreements or other documents between the Wellington City Council and the firm trading as electionz.com regarding the firm’s contractual obligations, the sum the firm is paid by the Council and the term of any contracts.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Yossarian
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #19787 email]
Is [Wellington City Council request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests to Wellington City Council? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
hide quoted sections
From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council
Apologies Richard,
I had replied to your other information request.
Ngâ mihi
Claudia
Claudia Holgate
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team
-----Original Message-----
From: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Sent: Thursday, 28 July 2022 8:26 am
To: Richard Yossarian <[FYI request #19787 email]>
Cc: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Official Information request - For information regarding the competence and accountabilities of the WCC electoral officer.
Kia ora Richard,
Thank you for your request made under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the Act), received on 04 July 2022. You requested the following information:
1. All information, correspondence, and/or supporting evidence that the Wellington City Council or its contractors that was considered to be the received 'heat', as described by Wellington City Council spokesperson Richard MacLean, that compelled the Wellington City Council to act on Paul Eagle MP's election advertising.
Wellington City Council received a number of tweets from the public in relation to the sign, as referred to by Mr MacLean. As such WCC has refused your request for information under section 17(d) of the Act, as the information is publicly available on Twitter Wellington City Council (@WgtnCC) / Twitter
Right of review
If you are not satisfied with the Council’s response, you may request the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the Council’s decision. Further information is available on the Ombudsman website, https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo....
Ngâ mihi
Claudia
Claudia Holgate
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Yossarian <[FYI request #19787 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 30 June 2022 6:21 pm
To: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - For information regarding the competence and accountabilities of the WCC electoral officer.
Dear Wellington City Council,
This is an official information request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).
This request is made to to gain information regarding the competence and accountabilities regarding the administration of Wellington City Council elections by the Wellington City Council be it through Wellington City Council employees or contractors.
The information requested is:
1. All policies, guidance or other documentation that the Wellington City Council has provided to the firm trading as electionz.com to ensure it is aware of the rules regarding local body elections, including any changes in advertising rules between the 2016, 2019 and 2022 Wellington City Council elections;
2. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to the Wellington City Council’s monitoring of whether the firm trading as electionz.com (including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council) is discharging its contracted duties competently and within the terms of its contract with the Wellington City Council;
3. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to how the Wellington City Council’s officers, elected officials and/or contractors may interact or correspond with the Electoral Officer;
4. All correspondence between Wellington City Council (including officers, elected officials and/or contractors) and the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council regarding advertising by Paul Eagle and/or his campaign;
5. All correspondence between Paul Eagle or his representatives and the Wellington City Council and/or the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council;
6. All correspondence between Justin Lester and/or Nick Leggett (including their representatives) and the Wellington City Council and/or the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council regarding the use of commercial billboards prior to the formal election hoarding period in the 2019 or 2016 Wellington City Council elections;
7. Any reviews of the of the administration of the 2019 or 2016 Wellington City Council elections undertaken by the Wellington City Council or its contractors; and
8. All contracts, agreements or other documents between the Wellington City Council and the firm trading as electionz.com regarding the firm’s contractual obligations, the sum the firm is paid by the Council and the term of any contracts.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Yossarian
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FYI request #19787 email]
Is [Wellington City Council request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests to Wellington City Council? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
hide quoted sections
From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council
Kia ora Richard,
Thank you for your recent Local Government Official Information and
Meetings Act (the Act) request.
Wellington City Council will be proactively releasing relevant information
soon relating to the billboard, such as:
o Policies and guidance regarding campaigning
o Correspondence between WCC and Electoral Officer
o Correspondence between Paul Eagle (or his representation) and WCC or
Electoral Officer
o Review of the last election
o Contract between electionz and WCC
As such, we are refusing request under section 17(d) of the Act as this
information will soon be made publicly available here: [1]Information
requests - Responses to information requests - Wellington City Council.
Note, the published response will include relevant withholding grounds
where applicable. This will be noted in our response.
If you are not satisfied with the Council’s response, you may request the
Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the Council’s decision. Further
information is available on the Ombudsman website,
[2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
Ngā mihi
Claudia
Claudia Holgate
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team
Te Kaunihera o Pōneke | Wellington City Council
M 021 515 352 | E [3][email address] | W
[4]wellington.govt.nz
From: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, 4 July 2022 8:52 am
To: Richard Yossarian <[FOI #19787 email]>
Cc: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Subject: IRC-3559 - Information request -electionz.com
Tēnā koe Richard
Thank you for your email dated 30/06/2022 requesting information about the
competence and accountabilities of the WCC electoral officer.
Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987 which requires us to provide a decision
as soon as possible, but no later than 28/07/2022, being 20 working days
of receipt.
The reference number for your request is IRC-3559.
Please contact us if you have any further questions.
Kind regards
The Assurance Team
Email: [5][email address]
Wellington City Council | W [6]Wellington.govt.nz | [7]Facebook|
[8]Twitter
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and
intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that
confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the
sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.
[9]http://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/Images...
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Yossarian
<[10][FOI #19787 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 30 June 2022 6:21 pm
To: BUS: Assurance <[11][email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - For information regarding the
competence and accountabilities of the WCC electoral officer.
Dear Wellington City Council,
This is an official information request under the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).
This request is made to to gain information regarding the competence and
accountabilities regarding the administration of Wellington City Council
elections by the Wellington City Council be it through Wellington City
Council employees or contractors.
The information requested is:
1. All policies, guidance or other documentation that the Wellington City
Council has provided to the firm trading as electionz.com to ensure it is
aware of the rules regarding local body elections, including any changes
in advertising rules between the 2016, 2019 and 2022 Wellington City
Council elections;
2. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to
the Wellington City Council’s monitoring of whether the firm trading as
electionz.com (including any employees or officers of this firm who are
acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council) is
discharging its contracted duties competently and within the terms of its
contract with the Wellington City Council;
3. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to
how the Wellington City Council’s officers, elected officials and/or
contractors may interact or correspond with the Electoral Officer;
4. All correspondence between Wellington City Council (including
officers, elected officials and/or contractors) and the firm trading as
electionz.com including any employees or officers of this firm who are
acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council regarding
advertising by Paul Eagle and/or his campaign;
5. All correspondence between Paul Eagle or his representatives and the
Wellington City Council and/or the firm trading as electionz.com including
any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral
Officer for the Wellington City Council;
6. All correspondence between Justin Lester and/or Nick Leggett
(including their representatives) and the Wellington City Council and/or
the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees or officers of
this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City
Council regarding the use of commercial billboards prior to the formal
election hoarding period in the 2019 or 2016 Wellington City Council
elections;
7. Any reviews of the of the administration of the 2019 or 2016
Wellington City Council elections undertaken by the Wellington City
Council or its contractors; and
8. All contracts, agreements or other documents between the Wellington
City Council and the firm trading as electionz.com regarding the firm’s
contractual obligations, the sum the firm is paid by the Council and the
term of any contracts.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Yossarian
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[12][FOI #19787 email]
Is [13][Wellington City Council request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests
to Wellington City Council? If so, please contact us using this form:
[14]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[15]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
1. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
2. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
7. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
8. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
10. mailto:[FOI #19787 email]
11. mailto:[email address]
12. mailto:[FOI #19787 email]
13. mailto:[Wellington City Council request email]
14. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
15. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
hide quoted sections
From: Richard Yossarian
Dear BUS: Assurance,
Thank you for your response to my LGOMIA request of 30 June 2022 regarding the competence and accountabilities regarding the administration of Wellington City Council elections by the Wellington City Council be it through Wellington City Council employees or contractors (your reference number IRC-3559).
I note that you are intending to publicly release information relating to some aspects of my request. Namely:
o Policies and guidance regarding campaigning
o Correspondence between WCC and Electoral Officer
o Correspondence between Paul Eagle (or his representation) and WCC or
Electoral Officer
o Review of the last election
o Contract between electionz and WCC
I note that this is not a proactive release, as you claim, as I had to put in a request for this information.
Having perused the website of the Ombudsman, the guidance for section 17d of the LGOIMA does indicate that an intention to respond to a LGOMIA request via a public website allows the statutory deadline of that release to be ignored. If this information is not published or released to me directly in within ten working days I will complain to the Ombudsman.
Your response does also not address my request for:
1. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to the Wellington City Council’s monitoring of whether the firm trading as electionz.com (including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council) is discharging its contracted duties competently and within the terms of its contract with the Wellington City Council;
2. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to how the Wellington City Council’s officers, elected officials and/or contractors may interact or correspond with the Electoral Officer;
3. All correspondence between Justin Lester and/or Nick Leggett (including their representatives) and the Wellington City Council and/or the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council regarding the use of commercial billboards prior to the formal election hoarding period in the 2019 or 2016 Wellington City Council elections; and
4. Information relating to communications and guidance to the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees not just any individual acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council.
Please confirm whether this part of my request is being refused or will be part of the reactive release of information via your website.
Yours sincerely,
Richard Yossarian
From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council
Kia ora Richard,
All of your questions will be addressed in our release on the website. We will advise when this is available.
Ngâ mihi
Claudia
Claudia Holgate
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Yossarian <[FOI #19787 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 28 July 2022 9:06 pm
To: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Subject: RE: IRC-3559 - Information request -electionz.com
Dear BUS: Assurance,
Thank you for your response to my LGOMIA request of 30 June 2022 regarding the competence and accountabilities regarding the administration of Wellington City Council elections by the Wellington City Council be it through Wellington City Council employees or contractors (your reference number IRC-3559).
I note that you are intending to publicly release information relating to some aspects of my request. Namely:
o Policies and guidance regarding campaigning o Correspondence between WCC and Electoral Officer o Correspondence between Paul Eagle (or his representation) and WCC or Electoral Officer o Review of the last election o Contract between electionz and WCC
I note that this is not a proactive release, as you claim, as I had to put in a request for this information.
Having perused the website of the Ombudsman, the guidance for section 17d of the LGOIMA does indicate that an intention to respond to a LGOMIA request via a public website allows the statutory deadline of that release to be ignored. If this information is not published or released to me directly in within ten working days I will complain to the Ombudsman.
Your response does also not address my request for:
1. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to the Wellington City Council’s monitoring of whether the firm trading as electionz.com (including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council) is discharging its contracted duties competently and within the terms of its contract with the Wellington City Council;
2. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to how the Wellington City Council’s officers, elected officials and/or contractors may interact or correspond with the Electoral Officer;
3. All correspondence between Justin Lester and/or Nick Leggett (including their representatives) and the Wellington City Council and/or the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council regarding the use of commercial billboards prior to the formal election hoarding period in the 2019 or 2016 Wellington City Council elections; and
4. Information relating to communications and guidance to the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees not just any individual acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council.
Please confirm whether this part of my request is being refused or will be part of the reactive release of information via your website.
Yours sincerely,
Richard Yossarian
-----Original Message-----
Kia ora Richard,
Thank you for your recent Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (the Act) request.
Wellington City Council will be proactively releasing relevant information soon relating to the billboard, such as:
o Policies and guidance regarding campaigning o Correspondence between WCC and Electoral Officer o Correspondence between Paul Eagle (or his representation) and WCC or Electoral Officer o Review of the last election o Contract between electionz and WCC
As such, we are refusing request under section 17(d) of the Act as this information will soon be made publicly available here: [1]Information requests - Responses to information requests - Wellington City Council.
Note, the published response will include relevant withholding grounds where applicable. This will be noted in our response.
If you are not satisfied with the Council’s response, you may request the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the Council’s decision. Further information is available on the Ombudsman website, [2]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo....
Ngâ mihi
Claudia
Claudia Holgate
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team
Te Kaunihera o Pôneke | Wellington City Council M 021 515 352 | E [3][email address] | W [4]wellington.govt.nz
From: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, 4 July 2022 8:52 am
To: Richard Yossarian <[FOI #19787 email]>
Cc: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Subject: IRC-3559 - Information request -electionz.com
Tçnâ koe Richard
Thank you for your email dated 30/06/2022 requesting information about the competence and accountabilities of the WCC electoral officer.
Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 which requires us to provide a decision as soon as possible, but no later than 28/07/2022, being 20 working days of receipt.
The reference number for your request is IRC-3559.
Please contact us if you have any further questions.
Kind regards
The Assurance Team
Email: [5][email address]
Wellington City Council | W [6]Wellington.govt.nz | [7]Facebook| [8]Twitter
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.
[9]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #19787 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
hide quoted sections
From: Richard Yossarian
10 August 2022
The Office of the Ombudsman
Level 7
70 The Terrace
Wellington 6011
Cc: "BUS: Assurance" <[email address]>
To whom it may concern,
This letter sets out two complaints against the Wellington City Council related to requests made under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).
The first complaint relates to a request made to to gain information regarding the competence and accountabilities regarding the administration of Wellington City Council elections by the Wellington City Council be it through Wellington City Council employees or contractors.
The request and all relevant correspondence is found at the link below.
https://fyi.org.nz/request/19787-for-inf...
The substance of my complaint is that the Wellington City Council has failed to respond within the required timeframe. The Wellington City Council presumed to decline my request under section 17 (d) of the LGOIMA on the basis that they were going to proactively release the information I had requested publicly. I consider this approach a breach of the LGOIMA on two grounds.
First, the Wellington City Council is not proactively releasing anything, it is reactively responding to my request. There was, by their explanation, no plan to release this information prior to my request. There was also no explanation or reason provided as to why it takes longer to release information by posting it on a website rather than emailing it to me. It appears that the Wellington City Council’s refusal of my request is nothing but a contrivance to delay the release of the information. By this contrivance the Wellington City Council could simply delay any request by refusing it on the grounds they are providing the information via a website rather than another form. This is clearly unacceptable and utterly out of step with the spirit of the LGOIMA as articulated on the Ombudsman’s website.
My second ground of this complaint is that even if the above contrivance was reasonable the Wellington City Council has had a further ten working to provide the information and the information has not been provided by any means. Refusal under under section 17 (d) of the LGOIMA should only occur when the information requested is to be released publicly soon and it hasn’t been.
The second complaint relates to a request made to to gain information regarding a claim made by Wellington City Council spokesperson Richard MacLean that, “we’ve received a lot of heat [from the public] so we feel compelled to act” as reported by the Stuff website on 4 July 2022 (https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/ne...).
The request and all relevant correspondence is found at the link below.
https://fyi.org.nz/request/19823-evidenc...
The substance of my complaint is that the Wellington City Council inappropriately declined my request under section 17 (d) of the LGOIMA on the basis the information was available publicly when it was not. I consider this approach a breach of the LGOIMA.
As noted in the Wellington City Council’s response, the information requested comprises some posts on Twitter.com. The Wellington City Council did not specify which posts on Twitter.com it was referring to, other than that they were some of the many addressed to the Wellington City Council’s Twitter account. As it was not possible to know which of the many (and often conflicting and incoherent) posts on Twitter.com the Council was referring to, what information is relevant to the request is unknowable to the public and therefore the information is not publicly available.
The Wellington City Council subsequently provided a single example of a post on Twitter.com but this could at best only be part of the information covered by the request. There appears to be no part of the LGOIMA that allows a request to be responded to with examples or snippets of information. Either the Wellington City Council has the information and should provide it or it does not have the information and should respond accordingly. Given this is information that apparently compelled the Wellington City Council to take action against at least two candidates for Mayor in a democratic election, some transparency should be expected of the Wellington City Council.
I look forward to your response.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Yossarian
From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council
Kia ora Richard,
You recently made a LGOIMA request to Wellington City Council relating to policies, guidelines and correspondence regarding election billboards.
The information you have requested can now be found on the WCC website Information requests - Responses to information requests - Wellington City Council
Thank you for your patience while we collated this information. If you require anything further, please let us know.
Ngâ mihi
Claudia
Claudia Holgate
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team
Te Kaunihera o Pôneke | Wellington City Council
-----Original Message-----
From: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Sent: Thursday, 4 August 2022 2:04 pm
To: Richard Yossarian <[FOI #19787 email]>
Cc: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Subject: RE: IRC-3559 - Information request -electionz.com
Kia ora Richard,
All of your questions will be addressed in our release on the website. We will advise when this is available.
Ngâ mihi
Claudia
Claudia Holgate
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Yossarian <[FOI #19787 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 28 July 2022 9:06 pm
To: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Subject: RE: IRC-3559 - Information request -electionz.com
Dear BUS: Assurance,
Thank you for your response to my LGOMIA request of 30 June 2022 regarding the competence and accountabilities regarding the administration of Wellington City Council elections by the Wellington City Council be it through Wellington City Council employees or contractors (your reference number IRC-3559).
I note that you are intending to publicly release information relating to some aspects of my request. Namely:
o Policies and guidance regarding campaigning o Correspondence between WCC and Electoral Officer o Correspondence between Paul Eagle (or his representation) and WCC or Electoral Officer o Review of the last election o Contract between electionz and WCC
I note that this is not a proactive release, as you claim, as I had to put in a request for this information.
Having perused the website of the Ombudsman, the guidance for section 17d of the LGOIMA does indicate that an intention to respond to a LGOMIA request via a public website allows the statutory deadline of that release to be ignored. If this information is not published or released to me directly in within ten working days I will complain to the Ombudsman.
Your response does also not address my request for:
1. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to the Wellington City Council’s monitoring of whether the firm trading as electionz.com (including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council) is discharging its contracted duties competently and within the terms of its contract with the Wellington City Council;
2. Details of all policies, guidance or other documentation related to how the Wellington City Council’s officers, elected officials and/or contractors may interact or correspond with the Electoral Officer;
3. All correspondence between Justin Lester and/or Nick Leggett (including their representatives) and the Wellington City Council and/or the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees or officers of this firm who are acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council regarding the use of commercial billboards prior to the formal election hoarding period in the 2019 or 2016 Wellington City Council elections; and
4. Information relating to communications and guidance to the firm trading as electionz.com including any employees not just any individual acting as the Electoral Officer for the Wellington City Council.
Please confirm whether this part of my request is being refused or will be part of the reactive release of information via your website.
Yours sincerely,
Richard Yossarian
-----Original Message-----
Kia ora Richard,
Thank you for your recent Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (the Act) request.
Wellington City Council will be proactively releasing relevant information soon relating to the billboard, such as:
o Policies and guidance regarding campaigning o Correspondence between WCC and Electoral Officer o Correspondence between Paul Eagle (or his representation) and WCC or Electoral Officer o Review of the last election o Contract between electionz and WCC
As such, we are refusing request under section 17(d) of the Act as this information will soon be made publicly available here: [1]Information requests - Responses to information requests - Wellington City Council.
Note, the published response will include relevant withholding grounds where applicable. This will be noted in our response.
If you are not satisfied with the Council’s response, you may request the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the Council’s decision. Further information is available on the Ombudsman website, [2]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo....
Ngâ mihi
Claudia
Claudia Holgate
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team
Te Kaunihera o Pôneke | Wellington City Council M 021 515 352 | E [3][email address] | W [4]wellington.govt.nz
From: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, 4 July 2022 8:52 am
To: Richard Yossarian <[FOI #19787 email]>
Cc: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Subject: IRC-3559 - Information request -electionz.com
Tçnâ koe Richard
Thank you for your email dated 30/06/2022 requesting information about the competence and accountabilities of the WCC electoral officer.
Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 which requires us to provide a decision as soon as possible, but no later than 28/07/2022, being 20 working days of receipt.
The reference number for your request is IRC-3559.
Please contact us if you have any further questions.
Kind regards
The Assurance Team
Email: [5][email address]
Wellington City Council | W [6]Wellington.govt.nz | [7]Facebook| [8]Twitter
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.
[9]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #19787 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.
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hide quoted sections
Richard Yossarian left an annotation ()
Our ref 589415 (Complaint ground: 589427)
Dear Mr Yossarian
Investigation of official information complaint
Request to Wellington City Council for information relating to local body election
campaigns and Paul Eagle’s billboard
I am writing on behalf of Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier.
On 30 June 2022, you made an eight part request to Wellington City Council (the Council) for
information relating to the local body election and in relation to Paul Eagle’s billboard campaign.
The request included correspondence between the Council and electionz.com regarding the
billboard, between the Council and Paul Eagle/his representative, contracts between the Council
and electionz.com, policy documents regarding the Council’s relationship with electionz.com,
reviews of the 2016 or 2019 elections and any correspondence about billboards in the 2016 or
2019 elections.
The Council refused your request under section 17(d) of the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) stating that the information requested would soon
be made publicly available.
You made a complaint about this decision noting that the response appeared to be reactive, not
proactive, given that it appeared the Council was releasing information in response to your
request.
Mr Boshier is investigating your complaint. I have today written to the Chief Executive of
Wellington City Council to commence the investigation. I have asked for the relevant information
and the reasons for the decision.
We will keep you updated on the investigation. If you wish to discuss this matter, please contact
Investigator XXX@ombudsman.parliament.nz).
Please also advise XXX if there is any relevant change of circumstances.
Yours sincerely
Tim Hope
Manager – Early Resolution
Richard Yossarian left an annotation ()
Our ref 589415 (Complaint ground: 589427)
Contact R
11 April 2023
Mr Richard Yossarian
By email:
Dear Mr Yossarian
Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) investigation Request to Wellington City Council for information relating to local body election campaigns and Paul Eagle’s billboard
I refer to Manager T ’s letter of 2 February 2023, concerning your complaint about the decision of Wellington City Council (the Council) to refuse your request for the above information.
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has asked me to advance this matter on his behalf.
It appears that the Council was entitled to refuse your request, on the basis that section 17(d) of the LGOIMA applies.
I have set out the relevant details below.
Ombudsman’s role
An Ombudsman has authority under the LGOIMA to investigate and review, on complaint, any decision by which an agency subject to the LGOIMA refuses to make official information available when requested.
An Ombudsman’s role in undertaking an investigation is to evaluate the grounds for refusing requests for official information in terms of the tests set out in the LGOIMA, and to form an opinion as to whether the request was properly refused.
Background and complaint
I understand that on 30 June 2022, you made an eight part LGOIMA request. This included all policies, guidance or other documentation that the Council provided to ‘electionz.com’ to:
∙ ensure it was aware of the rules regarding local body elections, including any changes in advertising rules between 2016, 2019, and 2022 elections;
∙ monitor electionz.com to ensure it was discharging its duties within the terms of its contract;
∙ correspondence between the Council and electionz.com regarding Paul Eagle and/or his advertising campaign;
∙ correspondence between Paul Eagle and the Council and/or electionz.com;
Office of the Ombudsman | Tari o te Kaitiaki Mana Tangata
∙ all contacts/agreements between the Council and electionz.com and the sum electionz.com was paid by the Council
You also requested:
∙ any reviews of the administration of the 2019 or 2016 elections undertaken by the Council or its contractors; and
∙ all correspondence between Justin Lester and/or Nick Legget and the Council and/or electionz.com regarding the use of commercial billboards prior to the formal election hoarding period in the 2019 or 2016 local body elections.
On 28 July 2022, the Council refused the request under section 17(d) of the LGOIMA stating that the information will soon be made publicly available on the Council’s website.
On 29 August 2022, the Council advised you that the information was now available on the Council website. The Council did not provide a link but referred you to its information requests page and ‘responses to information requests’ section.
You requested an investigation and review of this decision: first, because of a concern that the Council appeared to be reactively responding to your request;1 and second, because the public release was not soon.
Analysis
Section 17(d) of the LGOIMA gives agencies a discretion to refuse a request for information that is or will soon be publicly available. Like any discretion, it must be exercised reasonably.
The Ombudsman’s guide to this section notes that:
Refusal is also more likely to be justified if there is a pre-existing decision to publish the information—meaning that there is an intention to publish before the request is received, and not just because it was received. While it is good practice for agencies to publish information released in response to an OIA request, this should not delay release of the information to the requester.2
The Council has advised that it received a number of requests through the LGOIMA, as well as, comments online through its media channels which led to its decision to release the information on its website. It has advised that on 8 July 2022, team leaders were asked for relevant information to be included in the overall release of information. The Council recalls that a meeting was held between Democratic Services and the Official Information team which decided that given media reporting it would be useful to publish information on the website explaining the Council’s role.
I can confirm that prior to your request being made, and up until the time a decision was made on your request, nine other related LGOIMA requests or complaints were made in relation to the billboard campaign. The Council received several complaints and queries regarding mayoral
candidate campaign billboards through social media, mainly twitter, on 27 June 2022. There were also comments directed towards the Council on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook that refer to Paul Eagle and the billboard campaigns in June, July and August 2022.
As such, while the Council’s response to you has the appearance of being reactive, it was in fact taking into consideration the wider situation that was occurring at the time. The Council has explained that it was also required to undertake consultations in order to release the information and so the information could not have been released sooner. The Council also notes that you did not provide any details for requiring the information sooner. In these circumstances, it does not appear that the decision to proactively release the information resulted in a disadvantage to you. The information was released within a timeframe that would generally be accepted as meeting the definition of ‘soon’.3
I do note that the Council failed to specify that it intended to withhold information under certain withholding grounds at the time of the decision. In addition, it is good practice to provide the planned publication date and this was not done. We will discuss these matters with the Council so that they are taken into consideration for future requests.
It is unfortunate that the Council did not provide you with a fuller explanation. However, for the reasons set out above, it appears that the Council was entitled to refuse your request under section 17(d).
Your comments
I invite you to comment before Mr Boshier forms a final opinion on this matter. If you do wish to comment, please respond by 26 April 2023.
Please note that Ombudsmen must conduct their investigations in private,4 and are required to maintain secrecy in respect of all matters that come to their knowledge. This is subject only to specific exceptions, one of which relates to explaining to parties the outcome of an investigation.
This information is provided to you in confidence, in order to seek your comment before the Ombudsman forms an opinion on your complaint. Confidentiality should be maintained until the outcome of the investigation is finalised. This does not prevent you from seeking legal advice or support when preparing your response.
Yours sincerely
T
Manager – Early Resolution
1 that is, there was ‘no plan to release this information prior to my request’ and the refusal was ‘nothing but a contrivance to delay the release of the information’.
2 Page 6 Guide: Publicly available information August 2019
3 Ibid
4 Section 18(2) Ombudsmen Act 1975. This also applies to OIA and LGOIMA investigations: see sections 29 and 28, respectively.
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