Taupō District Councillor Anna Park has resigned effective immediately after pleading guilty to a drink driving charge for the fourth time.
Park appeared in the Auckland District Court last Friday where she admitted to driving with excess breath alcohol for a third or subsequent time. The 50-year-old councillor was stopped at a police checkpoint at 8am on November 9 last year on Wairakei Drive in Taupō, recording a breath alcohol reading of 804 micrograms per litre - more than double the legal limit of 400mg/l.
"My decision could have endangered others and, even though I was alone in the car, the risk I took was unacceptable," Park said in a statement to Lake FM.
"This does not diminish my accountability in any way - this mistake was mine alone, and I did not want those closest to me to suffer because of it," she stated.
Taupō District Council confirmed today they have officially received Park's resignation.
"It is no longer tenable under the Local Government Act for me to continue as a councillor," Park told RNZ. "I have therefore tendered my resignation effective immediately."
