Lee Vandervis

Lee Vandervis (born 1957) is a local-body politician who was first elected to the Dunedin City Council in the 2004 local elections. Vandervis has run for mayor in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019; finishing second in 2007. He is currently an elected councillor.

Lee Vandervis
Personal details
Bornc. 1957
Balclutha, New Zealand
NationalityNew Zealand
OccupationBusinessman, politician
Known forDunedin mayoral candidate
Opponent of Forsyth Barr Stadium
WebsiteOfficial website

Personal life

Lee Vandervis was born in Balclutha in 1957. He is the second son of Dutch immigrant parents, who settled in New Zealand after the Second World War. He attended Rosebank School (where he was dux), South Otago High School, and Kaikorai Valley High School. Vandervis later acquired a BA in Philosophy from the University of Otago, and has worked as a music technician for many years. In the mid 1970s he went to the United Kingdom and worked as an acoustic engineer for Midas Audio. In 1981, Vandervis returned to Dunedin and set up Vandervision Lighting Audio and Video in the early 1980s.[1][2]

Lee Vandervis was teased at school because of his Dutch name "Lieuwe", which he later changed to "Lee" by deed poll. Vandervis is married to Antonie Vandervis. He has eight children with the youngest being severely autistic. He is also an avid listener of classical music and names Johann Sebastian Bach and Jethro Tull as some of his favourite composers. Vandervis also plays the piano, violin, and cello, and was a member of the Dunedin band Prometheus. Vandervis is also a fan of the American author Neal Stephenson's speculative fiction novel Cryptonomicon.[2]

Politics

In 1984 Vandervis had a brief foray into politics standing for Bob Jones' New Zealand Party in the Dunedin North electorate. He polled in third place.[3]

2004–2013 terms

In 2004 Vandervis successfully stood for the Dunedin City as a Council councillor and ran unsuccessfully for Mayor coming third with 9.1% of the vote.[4] In the 2007 election he stood on a platform opposing then proposed replacement stadium for Carisbrook. He was defeated both as a councillor (by a margin of four votes after the counting of the special votes), as well as a mayoral candidate.[5][6] He came second after the incumbent, Peter Chin, but only gained 17% of the votes.[6] During the 2010 election campaign one of his volunteers installing an election hoarding pierced an 11 kV cable near Mosgiel causing a power outage to 747 consumers. The site had been designated for hoarding by the Council, but no mention of the presence of the cable had been made; the volunteer was unharmed.[7] Vandervis was again third in the Mayoral race with 15.2% of the vote. He was re-elected as a Councillor.

As of November 2012, Vandervis is the Chair of the Dunedin City Council Heritage Fund and the Heritage Buildings Re-use Committee. He is also on the Board of the Otago Settlers Museum.

Vandervis states that he is focused on challenging misrepresented projects and bureaucratic waste.[6][8] At times he is controversial. His recent criticism of Community Board's being a waste of time raised their ire.[9] He has also had clashes over bus shelters,[10] criticised Council's financial management – especially the $480,000 bailout of the Otago Rugby Union,[11][12] and faced criticism over his suggestion that Christchurch's earthquake rebuild could be shifted to Dunedin.[13]

Vandervis has suggested that Christchurch's proposed stadium would be a waste of money.[14] His comments were based on his experience with Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium.[15] Vandervis supports the rebuild of the Christchurch Cathedral, which was partially destroyed in the earthquakes.[16]

2013–2016 terms

Lee Vandervis stood for re-election in the October 2013 local election as a Dunedin City Councillor; he also contested the Dunedin mayoralty for the fourth time.[17] He was elected as to Council and placed third for the mayoralty.[18] The Mayor, Dave Cull, did not appoint Vandervis to any committees, commenting that he had no confidence he could contribute constructively, nor maintain any of the relationships needed to do the work effectively.[19]

On 16 March 2015, Lee Vandervis was subject to a code of conduct hearing dealing with three complaints against him for his alleged bullying, aggressive, and misleading behaviour. Vandervis has defended his actions. The city councillor had been involved in an argument with the Dunedin City Council's chief executive Dr Sue Bidrose and had criticized the council and the local police's investigation of the illegal sale of 150 the Council's Cityfleet vehicles to local residents. On 1 May 2015, Vandervis was temporarily stripped of his voting rights after failing to apologize for these actions.[20][21] According to the Otago Daily Times journalist Kim Dungey, Vandervis was well known within Dunedin circles for his acrimonious relationship with Mayor Cull and several city councillors; taking issue with the council's alleged misspending of public money, the Cityfleet fraud case, and property speculation by Council's Delta Utility Services.[2] In addition, Vandervis has also opposed a 3.8% rates increase and has called for the council to cut back on staff numbers and to "be run more like a business."[22]

2019 local body election

In late August 2019, the Otago Daily Times reported that Vandervis was the subject of 11 complaints of inappropriate behaviour, angry and shouting, insulting, threatening, unsubstantiated allegations of corruption, and intimidating behaviour against several Dunedin City Council staff members and members of the public. Vandervis was also criticised by Mayor Cull and several fellow councillors including Rachel Elder, Aaron Hawkins, and Mike Lord for alleged bullying and intimidating behaviour.[23][24] In response, Vandervis defended his actions and claimed that he was the victim of a smear campaign timed to coincide with the 2019 Dunedin mayoral election.[25] In early September 2019, Vandervis drew criticism when he made remarks that young voters were ignorant or did not care about candidates during a mayoral debate organised by the Otago University Students' Association.[26] Vandervis subsequently apologised for his remarks.[27]

In mid-September 2019, a twelfth complaint was lodged against Vandervis after he allegedly verbally abused some DCC staff members over a parking ticket.[28][29] Vandervis contested the complaint and uploaded a CCTV video on social media to support his claim that he did not verbally abuse. David Benham, chairman of the Otago Regional Council's audit and risk subcommittee, was tasked with conducting an independent investigation into the matter.[30] On 10 December, Vandervis was censured by his fellow councillors for the parking ticket incident. In response, he alleged that his privacy was breached at a critical time of the election campaign.[31]

On 12 October 2019, Vandervis was re-elected to the Dunedin City Council as a councillor but lost the mayoral contest to Greens candidate Aaron Hawkins.[32][33]

2020 disciplinary action

In mid-October 2020, independent investigator Steph Dyhrberg found that Vandervis had engaged in intimidatory behaviour during an argument with Deputy Mayor Christine Garey in late July 2020. While apologising for his conduct, Vandervis defended his efforts to hold city councillors and staff to account for allegedly "not doing their job."[34] During a conduct hearing held on 27 October, Vandervis' fellow councillors called on him to apologise for his behaviour and seek professional help with anger management, with Mayor Aaron Hawkins likening him to a four-year old. Vandervis remained defiant during the hearing, alleging that the problem was council mismanagement and misrepresentation. The Dunedin City Council also warned Vandervis that they would revoke his membership of the Otago Museum Trust Board and the district licensing committee if a "suitable apology" was not delivered.[35][36]

References
  1. "Councillor Lee Vandervis". Dunedin City Council. Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  2. Dungey, Kim (30 May 2015). "Fighting City Hall". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  3. New Zealand Official Yearbook – 1984, Department of Statistics, Wellington, page 1024, ISSN 0078-0170
  4. "DemoChoice Web Poll: New Zealand, Dunedin City, Hills Ward, 2004 note: Chin withdrew". Demochoice.org. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  5. "Dunedin stadium opponent beaten". Fairfax NZ News. 19 October 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  6. Morris, Chris (1 September 2010). "Mayoral profile: Lee Vandervis". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  7. "Candidate's advertising sign sparks power cut". Otago Daily Times. 16 September 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  8. "About". Lee Vandervis. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  9. "Vandervis to be invited to meeting". Otago Daily Times. 30 May 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  10. "Vandervis walks out of hearing". Otago Daily Times. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  11. "Unpaid rent situation angers councillor". Otago Daily Times. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  12. "Ratepayers upset over Otago union bailout". 3 News. 15 March 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  13. "Vandervis comments rankle in Christchurch". Otago Daily Times. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  14. King, Caroline (27 July 2012). "Dunedin councillor warns against stadium". The Press. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  15. "Forsyth Barr stadium reports $1.9 million loss". 3 News. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  16. Lee Vandervis. "Broken heart better than no heart". The Press. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  17. Morris, Chris (22 May 2013). "Mayoral contest heats up". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  18. "Dunedin City Council : 2013 Triennial Elections" (PDF). Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  19. No leadership role for Vandervis, Debbie Porteous, Otago Daily Times, 24 October 2013
  20. Telfer, Ian (16 March 2015). "Council accused of unprofessional behaviour". Radio New Zealand News. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  21. Morris, Chris (1 May 2015). "Apology lacking; voting rights to go". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  22. Goodwin, Eileen (23 May 2015). "Council sets 3.8% rates rise". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  23. Morris, Chris (26 August 2019). "Vandervis subject of 11 complaints". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  24. "'Shouting, insulting, threatening': Dunedin councillor Lee Vandervis accused of harassment". New Zealand Herald. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  25. "11 complaints: Dunedin councillor claims smear campaign". New Zealand Herald. Allied Press. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  26. Morris, Chris (5 September 2019). "Young voters 'don't know enough': Dunedin mayoral candidate Lee Vandervis". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  27. McNeilly, Hamish (5 September 2019). "Councillor apologises over comments made at Scarfie mayoral forum". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  28. Morris, Chris (24 September 2019). "Complaint made against Vandervis". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  29. Adams, Josie (4 October 2019). "Dunedin's venomous election fight, assessed via the Spinoff Snake Rating". The Spinoff. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  30. Morris, Chris (27 September 2019). "Cr's claim CCTV clip had audio rejected". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  31. McNeilly, Hamish (10 December 2019). "Dunedin councillor censured over $12 parking ticket". Stuff. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  32. "Dunedin goes Green as Aaron Hawkins elected as the city's next mayor". Radio New Zealand. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  33. "2019 Election results - Dunedin City Council". Dunedin City Council. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  34. Miller, Grant (23 October 2020). "Vandervis ruled in breach, on the mat". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  35. McNeilly, Hamish (27 October 2020). "Errant councillor asked to apologise after finger-wagging tirade against deputy mayor". Stuff. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  36. Miller, Grant (28 October 2020). "Councillors united against Vandervis". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
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