Leaders of the Napier Youth Council wrote to the chief executive of Napier City Council after a public event they attended, claiming Napier mayor Richard McGrath called them a 'bunch of idiots who can't use pen and paper'.

McGrath denied he said that and said he believed the Youth Council had been unfairly dragged into a political game.

Hawke’s Bay editor Chris Hyde has been following from the sidelines and he says McGrath's been off to a rough start as mayor. 

"There are a lot of people still in the council who don't think that he is suitable for the job, and so he's had a really challenging six months." 

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