Hamilton City Councillor in spotlight again after historic Facebook post resurfaces

Hamilton City Council is having to mop up the mess created by two city councillors criticised for their behaviour over the weekend.

Councillor and mayoral hopeful James Casson recently deleted a social media post which said the Christchurch mosque shooter wins with every reaction, including "each memorial held".

Historic posts on his personal Facebook page have also revealed he once called refugees scum when posting about a terror attack in Nice, France.

The revelations followed publicity for another Hamilton City Councillor, Siggi Henry, who over the weekend wore an anti vaccination shirt to an autism fundraiser.

Those are the things people remember, their council colleague Dave Macpherson said - not the progress council is making in the diversity area.

Casson, who is also an officer for Immigration New Zealand, did not respond to repeated calls and a text on Sunday.

His political Facebook page also appeared to have been disabled some time during the day.

In the now-deleted post, Casson repeatedly named the man accused of the shootings at the mosque - in contrast to the Government and New Zealand media who have limited naming him.

"Each memorial held, (the accused) wins," Casson wrote.

"Banning his manifesto, (accused) wins...Banning semi automatic firearms, (accused) wins ... Each mosque protected by police, (accused) wins ... Banning free speech no matter how vile from social media, (accused) wins.

"Each time Ardern speaks of unacceptable hate or terror, (accused) wins. Each tear shed (accused) wins."

He referred to London residents who carried on as normal when Hitler was bombing their city: "That was the biggest fight back they could have given. ... Let's move on as a nation, never forget or forgive but strive to live as normal."

Speaking on Saturday, he told Stuff he stood by his views, and he wanted the accused shooter to be "remembered for the absolutely terrible person he is".

That post was on his political Facebook page, but older ones on his personal account have since raised questions.

In a post about the 2016 terror attacks in Nice, he says they will continue to happen given Europe opened its borders "to the hordes".

He later questioned whether refugees were looking for a better life, and said Europe needed to get rid of "these scum".

And a 2015 post with a meme of Caitlyn Jenner and a joke about being transgender, has disgusted an advocate who says that community already faces nastiness every day.

"It's simply not okay to endorse or share that type of shit," transgender advocate and personality Mary Haddock-Staniland said.

"[Sunday] is International Transgender Visibility Day. We're in a world where we should be accepting, and kind and non-judgmental - more so because you're in a role like he is."

Moves like Casson's and Henry's can make it feel like council progress in the diversity area is being undone, fellow councillor Dave Macpherson said.

Council has worked hard to bring Māori into decision-making processes, for example, and is working with K'aute Pasifika on a potential new centre on the edge of town.

"What's the thing that people are going to remember this week?" he said. "Not that we have got Māori members on council committees, not that we're working to support the Muslim community.

"We've got staff that work in ethnic and refugee communities. I bet Jovi [Abellanosa], the woman that's the ethnic advisor, is going to cop comments for the next two weeks.

"There are elections in October, and I'll certainly be pointing that out to people."

Hamilton Mayor Andrew King said Casson and Henry's behaviour during sensitive situations and were "out of step with the views of New Zealanders".

"I think the comments are very sad in both cases," he said, "and I want to make it really clear that these are the views of these two individuals. They're not the views of council.

"Hamilton-Kirikiriroa is building really close relationships with our ethnic and religious communities, in a cultural diversity space."

For example, the council will soon receive a report on culturally sensitive road and park names, and the city has a strong settlement centre which council supports.

Councillors need to be even more careful with their words than the everyday person, King said.

While they're allowed their own opinions, their code of conduct reminds them that they are always on duty as a councillor.

And, given Casson had wanted to be deputy chair of council's community committee, King said he'd have expected to him to stand with the community in a period of grieving.