Hamilton City Councillor Ewan Wilson says he will fight a move to have him dismissed from a council committee.
Cr Wilson is accused of having inappropriate communications with a person who had applied for a special extension to a liquor licence.
The council has confirmed that at an informal meeting of its statutory management committee on Friday six councillors signed a notice of motion to have Mr Wilson removed.
Cr Wilson says he wrote an email to the applicant after the bar owner withdrew his application for extra hours at Easter.
He says it's an orchestrated move designed to silence him because he often criticises council decision-making.
Cr Wilson says he expects to get some support from other councillors, but not from a majority when his future on the committee is decided next month.
The motion will be considered at a council meeting on 24 May.
Committee chair John Gower has refused to make any comment.
Cr Wilson founded the Kiwi Air budget airline in 1992. He was later convicted of fraud after the airline collapsed.
