The mayor of Porirua says he has been cleared of misusing a council fuel card.
Mike Tana Photo: supplied
Concerns were raised about mayor Mike Tana's use of the petrol card during a council audit by Ernst and Young.
He was asked to provide auditors with more information.
Mr Tana said that fact was leaked to media, but should've been kept confidential.
A report into his use of the card was finished today, but the mayor asked the council's chief executive not to release it.
He said the whole thing should have been kept confidential, and if the information was released, it could be used against him.
But he said the report found in his favour.
"The results of the audit basically look at the information I gave them and the evidence I gave them and said that they match up to the travel done, so therefore I have not been misusing the fuel card."
Mr Tana said council processes did not allow him to record how he was using the card in detail, such as logging mileage whenever he filled up.
"What I said was - it's very difficult for me to provide this information becuase you never actually asked for it in the first place, but I would be more than happy to put in place any process that would give you confidence the card had not been misused."
He said the information being sought related to the time period between June, and September of this year.
He said as it was an employment matter, the situation should have been dealt with in-house.
Mr Tana said the issue was likely to have impacted his vote, and said based on what it had done, and what people had said, if there was any evidence of improper conduct by council staff or councillors, he would follow up to make sure it would not happen again.
Hesaid his family had been under a lot of stress, because the council had considered elevating the situation to including the serious fraud office, and the police.
