Mayoral candidate Facebook targeted
A mayoral candidate is under the spotlight after a Facebook page was created to outline their past.
Front-running mayoral candidate Ewan Wilson has been targeted by a Facebook page.
Wilson is in a close race for the mayoralty against standing incumbent Julie Hardaker.
“Ewan Wilson – The Unauthorised Biography” posted a fake CV and several past articles summarising aspects of Wilson’s business and local government history.
The page’s administrator revealed over Facebook that they are a council candidate, but the Waikato Independent is yet to see direct confirmation from the named candidate.
“What’s been printed here is sourced from publicly available articles, and intended to be informative as people decide if Ewan’s errors are in the past or not,” they said.
Twenty-three minutes after being tagged on the page by another Facebook user, Wilson made a Facebook statement.
He said his camp is not associated with any “defamatory” Facebook pages or “fake” profiles.
“An election should be about informing the public of our policies and what we stand for, and yes this can be in the form of comparing what others stand for, but we believe it should not involve dirty tactics or foul language.”
The page claims that in 2006 Wilson approved the Hamilton City Council’s long-term strategic plan “including the V8s”.
However Wilson’s campaign website says he did not vote for the V8s.
“I wasn’t on council when the V8s were signed, implemented or monitored.
“And when the disastrous project was over I opposed $18 million of race assets being sold for $1.5 million.”
The unofficial page also says that last year he voted to “support water metering in the future”.
But Wilson is campaigning otherwise.
“A vote for Wilson is a vote against water meters and the privatization of your water,” he said.
The page was created on September 30.
