Wānaka's Councillor Barry Bruce launches attack on John Glover

Analysis.

Crux has covered a lot of QLDC meetings but we can’t recall ever hearing Barry Bruce say or do anything. We are sure he must have - but we clearly missed it.

He does have a habit though of sending insulting emails to people - Crux and those councillors he does not like in particular.

Earlier this year he said in an email that Crux had no editorial right or qualifications to report on QLDC and basically should not exist. Councillor Niki Gladding has told us she has received many such emails, but worse, from Councillor Bruce. “This is what I have to put up with” she told us a few months back.

Yesterday, in what appears to be an attempt to undermine the mayoral campaign of John Glover, Councillor Bruce emailed Crux alleging that Mr Glover had been paid money by QLDC to run the well respected planning group Shaping Our Future.

John Glover has issued the following statment to Crux:

“In the time that I contracted to Shaping our Future as Executive Officer, I never received any funding from QLDC.

“Shaping our Future Inc and latterly the Shaping our Future Charitable Trust receives funding from QLDC, Lotteries Community Development and other sources.

“Board members/trustees agree how funds are spent and all are accounted for in the audited accounts prepared each year and which are provided to QLDC as a matter of course. I terminated my contract with the organisation in May this year prior to announcing my decision to run in the local body election.”

So that seems clear.

What’s not clear is the purpose of Barry Bruce being a QLDC councillor if all he can do is send snarky emails and be all but invisible and silent at council meetings. However, if that’s what his supporters want from him - then maybe that’s democracy?