Controversial Dunedin councillor Benedict Ong has been found to have breached the code of conduct for a third time.
Ong has already been suspended from some duties and been asked to resign following two upheld complaints over his behaviour.
In June, deputy mayor Cherry Lucas complained, alleging he had publicly posted confidential information and criticised the council's chief executive on social media.
The Dunedin City Council met behind closed doors on Thursday to discuss the complaint.
Councillor Andrew Simms, who chaired the item, said the council accepted the findings that he had materially breached the code in a public and deliberate manner.
Simms said he had been suspended from all council committees and subcommittees for nine months until July 2027.
He received a similar nine-month suspension in May after an independent report found he was likely deliberately and repeatedly leaking information that could potentially jeopardise the council's commercial interests.
Benedict Ong faced a code of conduct complaint. (Source: 1News)
The suspension was not expected to affect him for long.
Last month, he announced plans to stand as an independent candidate in the Dunedin electorate.
He has since confirmed on social media that he would resign on December 31 regardless of whether his tilt was successful.
This was at odds with his previous declarations that he would never resign after his colleagues asked him to in the wake of the first code of conduct complaint.
"It's becoming a cliché – never. I have been asked many times, I'm going to be asked again. I think it's just too clichéd. I should have t-shirt that just says 'never'," he told media at the time.
Ong has been embroiled in controversy since he was elected, including being trespassed from the University of Otago grounds and buildings following student complaints about inappropriate and unwanted behaviour.
Ong has claimed he has been subject to "false, malicious co-ordinated political attacks" since he was elected last October.
He posted on social media that this had made his ongoing public role as a councillor "untenable to hold".
Andrew Simms said the suspension did not impact Ong's attendance at full council meetings.
"The independent report itself will be kept confidential," he said.
SHARE ME