Newly elected Hastings councillor Steve Gibson says he is the subject of a “witch hunt” after a formal complaint was lodged against him.

Hastings District Council’s chief executive Nigel Bickle has appointed a private investigator to examine allegations from a staff member relating to Gibson’s conduct at the Hastings Art Gallery on Friday, December 5.

Gibson, who was the top polling candidate of all councillors, says he doesn’t know who made the complaint.

“I assume it’s to do with the Hastings Art Gallery and the stolen flag that was part of the Flagging the Future art installation.”

The council-owned Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga Hastings Art Gallery opened the controversial exhibition that encourages people to walk over a New Zealand flag at the beginning of November.

Gibson made no secret of the fact he was against the installation, which included a New Zealand flag on the ground, inviting people to “please walk on me”. “That flag has been carried by New Zealanders in every major conflict and it holds deep meaning for many of us,” Gibson said.

On December 5, the flag was stolen from the art gallery and the next day, the installation by Ōtaki-based Māori artist Diane Prince was removed.

The flag was recovered the day after, and a 38-year-old man appeared in court last Friday, charged with stealing it. In court documents, the flag was valued at $15,000 and identified as the property of the artist. The man charged, Bryce Gambirazzi, was remanded without plea to appear in court again in January.

The installation was also hastily removed from the Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū in Nelson earlier this year for what the gallery described as staff safety reasons following abuse and complaints.

A Hastings District Council spokesperson said Bickle had received a complaint about Gibson’s alleged interactions with a staff member at the gallery.

Gibson said he had done nothing wrong, and CCTV cameras would prove it.

“On that day, I went to the gallery after I found out the flag had been stolen. I talked to a couple of staff members and asked them if they were okay because I’d been told they had been abused,” Gibson said.

He said a woman approached him. “She started talking to me and when I asked her who she was, she got defensive and aggressive.”

Gibson said she was upset about the flag being stolen, but that staff knew it was controversial before it was installed. “Maybe she thought I was being smug about it? I have made no secret of the fact I didn’t think it was appropriate to have the installation in a council gallery. I never raised my voice or did anything wrong. I know how to interact with people. I was a police officer for 20 years. That’s not the person I am.”

Bickle sent a letter to Gibson that said he had engaged a local licensed private investigator, barrister and solicitor to make an assessment of the complaint and provide advice on any future course of action.

Mayor Wendy Schollum said an independent party was conducting an initial assessment of the complaint in accordance with the Council’s code of conduct.

“I’m not in a position to make any public comment whilst this process is completed,” Schollum said.

The code of conduct says if the complaint is upheld, consequences for Gibson ranged from a meeting with the mayor, to an apology, to an invitation to consider resigning.

Just days before he received the letter, Gibson laid his own complaint with the police, claiming that the NZ flag had been desecrated at the Hastings Art Gallery.

Police said they had received a report from Gibson, but after speaking to their legal team, had decided there would be no further action as “the threshold for a successful prosecution is just too high”.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.