Readers: This is the ongoing
(which I sincerely wish wasn't, since I have better ways to deploy my time and talents)
bullshit going on with the childish characters over at the Masterton District Council
(who clearly do NOT have better ways to deploy their time and "talents") as I continue my now 18-month campaign for peaceful and productive enjoyment of my property. Or even tolerable inhabitation of it.
Which, as a ratepayer, I pay the salaries of these clowns - and whatever this Mayor and her Councillor colleagues get paid - to ensure, in accordance with their statutory obligations.
If you haven't been following this shameful saga, here's its evolution:
Don't Let Yours Be 'THAT Dog': What Works, What Doesn't, and What Every Dog Owner Needs to Know About Barking
Before You Fall In Love with That Face: Choosing the Right Dog for Your Life, Your Home & Your Neighbours
Nuisance Barking & This Council's Selective Hearing for Selected Complainants
MASTERTON DISTRICT COUNCIL: When Just Doing Your Job Would Be A Whole Lot Easier
Ratepayers Actually Fund these Freewheeling Childish Clowns’ Salaries
And before you embark on a read of the latest Council shame, it's worth doing so with the benefit of having first taken, or afterwards taking, a read of the
standard public service '5Ds' playbook. It's rare, though, that it's deployed with such extraordinary blatancy and spectacular psychological immaturity.
From: editor@consumeraffairswriter.com
Sent: Friday, 22 May 2026 12:59 pm
To: 'Debra Clark' <debrac@mstn.govt.nz>
Cc: 'lucy.cooper@stuff.co.nz'; 'Mayor Bex Johnson' <mayor@mstn.govt.nz>; 'gary.caffell@mstn.govt.nz' <gary.caffell@mstn.govt.nz>; 'Craig Bowyer' <craig.bowyer@mstn.govt.nz>; 'Waireka Collings' <waireka.collings@mstn.govt.nz>; 'Tim Nelson' <tim.nelson@mstn.govt.nz>; 'Jamie Falloon' <jamie.falloon@mstn.govt.nz>; 'Stella Lennox' <stella.lennox@mstn.govt.nz>; 'David Holmes' <david.holmes@mstn.govt.nz>; 'Brent Goodwin' <brent.goodwin@mstn.govt.nz>
Subject: RE: Formal Meeting Request - Discriminatory Enforcement of Dog Control Act
Dear Ms Clark
Thank you for your response.
I respectfully disagree with your assessment of this matter, the contemptuous and obstructionist intent behind it, and the internal Council management and organisational culture that produced it.
If your response was appropriate, and my request for a meeting with the Mayor was inappropriate, how come the party recommending I take this action was my own lawyer – who would be expected to have a clear legal understanding of the distinction between governance and operational matters?
Any ratepayer should be able to request a meeting with the Mayor, given that your and the Mayor's salaries are paid with our rates.
Jordan Kelly
From: Debra Clark <debrac@mstn.govt.nz>
Sent: Friday, 22 May 2026 9:51 am
To:
editor@consumeraffairswriter.com
Subject: RE: Formal Meeting Request - Discriminatory Enforcement of Dog Control Act
Mōrena Jordan
Thank you for your response.
We respectfully disagree with your assessment of this matter. This is a regulatory matter, i.e. animal control, and the Local Government Act is clear of the required separation between decisions that are a matter of policy and therefore governance rather than regulatory, which is prescribed by legislation.
The concerns that you have raised effectively amount to a complaint about the Council’s response to your matter, which therefore must be dealt with in accordance with the procedure outlined in our Complaints Policy (Masterton District Council Compliments and Complaints Policy).
The matter has therefore been referred to our Group Manager Strategy to investigate.
Ngā mihi.
DEBRA CLARK
Executive Assistant to Mayor Bex Johnson
and Chief Executive, Kym Fell
debrac@mstn.govt.nz
@MastertonDC
www.mstn.govt.nz
From:
editor@consumeraffairswriter.com
Sent: Thursday, 21 May 2026 8:11 pm
To: Debra Clark <debrac@mstn.govt.nz>
Cc:
lucy.cooper@stuff.co.nz; Mayor Bex Johnson <mayor@mstn.govt.nz>; Gary Caffell <gary.caffell@mstn.govt.nz>; Craig Bowyer <craig.bowyer@mstn.govt.nz>; Waireka Collings <waireka.collings@mstn.govt.nz>; Tim Nelson <tim.nelson@mstn.govt.nz>; Jamie Falloon <jamie.falloon@mstn.govt.nz>; Stella Lennox <stella.lennox@mstn.govt.nz>; David Holmes <david.holmes@mstn.govt.nz>; Brent Goodwin <brent.goodwin@mstn.govt.nz>
Subject: RE: Formal Meeting Request - Discriminatory Enforcement of Dog Control Act
Dear Ms Clark
Thank you for your response.
I must respectfully but firmly disagree with your characterisation of this as purely a regulatory matter. It is no longer a regulatory matter at all.
What I have documented over 18 months is a consistent pattern of discriminatory and selectively biased application of the Council's statutory obligations to one ratepayer in particular. That is
not a regulatory matter.
It is precisely the definition of a governance matter – and one that falls squarely within the Mayor's role.
I look forward to hearing from you with some afternoon appointment time options at the Mayor's earliest convenience.
Jordan Kelly
From: Debra Clark <debrac@mstn.govt.nz>
Sent: Thursday, 21 May 2026 4:13 pm
To:
editor@consumeraffairswriter.com
Subject: RE: Formal Meeting Request - Discriminatory Enforcement of Dog Control Act
Kia ora Jordan
Thank you for your email to Mayor Bex this morning.
Because this relates to a regulatory matter, your email has been forwarded on to the Group Manager of that department, and has also been raised as a complaints service request (as advised to you via email from MDC Admin at 1:09pm today).
The Mayor’s role relates to governance, therefore it is not appropriate for her to be involved in Council regulatory or operational matters.
Ngā mihi.
DEBRA CLARK
Executive Assistant to Mayor Bex Johnson
and Chief Executive, Kym Fell
debrac@mstn.govt.nz
@MastertonDC
www.mstn.govt.nz
From:
editor@consumeraffairswriter.com
Sent: Thursday, 21 May 2026 6:28 am
To: 'Mayor Bex Johnson' <mayor@mstn.govt.nz>
Cc: 'lucy.cooper@stuff.co.nz'
Subject: Formal Meeting Request - Discriminatory Enforcement of Dog Control Act
Dear Mayor Bex Johnson
I write as a resident of (MY ADDRESS), Masterton, regarding
Council’s discriminatorily selective application of its statutory obligations to ratepayers.
The matter relates to an ongoing nuisance barking situation involving two neighbouring properties that the Masterton District Council has failed to adequately address (or address at all) – one of them since December 2024.
I am writing again, this time in the wee small hours of Thursday 21 May 2026, having just been woken – again, as I am now almost nightly – this time at
4.45am (but
you can also see by the much earlier example timestamps on the below emails to my solicitor, the sort of pattern of multiple even earlier awakenings) by the hunting breed type dog at (ADDRESS CITED) barking directly adjacent to (and just a few metres from) my bedroom window. This property's new owners moved in around Easter this year and the barking has been disturbing my sleep throughout the night, regularly, since then.
This is in addition to an 18-month history of nuisance barking from the spaniel at (ADDRESS CITED), which borders my property at the side/rear, and regarding which I have made multiple formal complaints to the Council since December 2024.
My multiple attempts to seek the Council’s assistance over this matter are documented and published here, along with the extraordinary lengths I have gone to, to collect evidence for the Council and also to attempt to address the matter myself:
https://www.doggiemamma.com/nuisance-barking-mdc-selective-hearing
and here:
https://www.doggiemamma.com/masterton-council-when-just-doing-your-job-would-be-a-whole-lot-easier
I have this week, through my solicitor at (NAME OF FIRM) issued formal legal letters to both neighbouring properties under the Dog Control Act 1996. I am taking this private legal action because the Council's response to date has been wholly inadequate.
Those letters are attached, for your information.
And again, I am also finally resorting to this because, as the above-linked published articles clearly demonstrate, the council appears to be acting in a plainly discriminatory manner towards me as a ratepayer, and practicing selective enforcement of its legal obligations.
And I am also writing to formally advise you and put on the formal record, that there have been very real health consequences to me of the cumulative sleep deprivation, and general high-intensity sustained stress and daily disruption, caused by this ongoing situation.
I am requesting a formal meeting with you to discuss the Council's obligations under the Dog Control Act 1996, to see what steps the Council intends to take to fulfill them, to see why it has not done so, and to
discuss why it continues not to do so in my case specifically.
I also cc this meeting request to local journalist, Lucy Cooper, as I believe the discrimination that appears to be at the root of this overall situation, would be of interest to her, as a local government issues specialist.
Further, I am also currently awaiting a response to an LGOIMA request filed on 15 May 2026 (now acknowledged by Ruth McEwen, Governance Advisor) regarding the Council's evidentiary requirements for nuisance barking complaints and its standard operating procedures, and
seeking a precedent that can demonstrate the need for the extent of evidence I have already provided to the Council over barking nuisance complaints: https://www.doggiemamma.com/masterton-council-when-just-doing-your-job-would-be-a-whole-lot-easier.
And again, here are the lengths to which I have already gone, to achieve Council’s resolution of this matter: https://www.doggiemamma.com/nuisance-barking-mdc-selective-hearing
I look forward to hearing from you with some optional dates. Please offer afternoon dates, as clearly, I am unable to obtain much sleep during the night as explained above, and I will not exactly be sharp and shiny in the mornings as a result.
Yours sincerely
Jordan Kelly
(Street Address & Phone Number)
From:
editor@consumeraffairswriter.com
Sent: Wednesday, 20 May 2026 6:39 am
To: Lawyer’s Email Address)
Subject: (Street Addresses of Two Barking Nuisances)
From:
editor@consumeraffairswriter.com
Sent: Wednesday, 20 May 2026 2:42 am
To: (Lawyer’s Email Address)
Subject: (Street Addresses of Two Barking Nuisances)
From:
editor@consumeraffairswriter.com
Sent: Monday, 18 May 2026 4:05 am
To:
editor@consumeraffairswriter.com
Subject: Barking log – (Nocturnal and Early Morning Barkers’ Street Address)
