People’s Choice members on the Linwood-Central-Heathcote community Board have been forced to back down from trying to remove popular Chair Alexandra Davids.

It follows intense criticism from a growing list of Christchurch figures including former mayor Garry Moore, who condemned the group’s actions as “disgraceful.”

Two residents even wrote letters to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on People’s Choice behaviour.

In a Joint Statement released this afternoon by People’s Choice members Michelle Lomax, Jackie Simons, Sunita Gautam, Cr Yani Johanson, & Cr Jake McLellan, they said after careful consideration, the have decided to withdraw their request for a vote on the Chairperson at the November 30th.

Board Member Michelle Lomax said “we signed the letter to the CEO calling for a new vote because we had significant concerns about the process. It’s really important that our community has confidence in the way the Board runs and that we operate in an open and democratic manner.”

The statement was released just hours after it was revealed Lomax had missed 9 community board meetings in the last year.

People’s Choice member Jackie Simons missed a whooping 18 meetings in the last year.

Alexandra Davids had missed just one meeting in the same period.

Councillor Jake Mclellan who is thought to be the ringleader behind the move said “we recognise that although we abstained from the earlier process because we didn’t agree with it, the best of way of moving forward now is with a constructive and collaborative process.”

Councillor Yani Johanson said “we are committed to working with our fellow elected Community Board members together to resolve our differences and move forward addressing issues of concern including: greater transparency, improved community responsiveness, and united leadership.”

“We will be encouraging all board members to take part in collective discussions to enable a shared vision and work plan for the board for the remainder of this term and agree on leadership arrangements that are best to achieve these.”