In 2020, Jepson sponsored a petition in Northland calling for a local referendum on the
Kaipara District Council's plans to introduce
Māori wards and constituencies.
Conflicts with Māori 2022 Karakia controversy On 30 November 2022, Jepson attracted media attention after interrupting Māori ward councillor Pera Paniora's
karakia (
Māori prayer). Despite criticism, Jepson refused to back down and banned karakia from council meetings on 3 December on the grounds that specific religions or cultures should not be included in secular meetings. On 8 December, Jepson and other members of the Kaipara District Council reached a compromise that would allow councillors to recite karakia, issue statements and reflections on a rotating basis. Paniora welcomed the compromise, stating that "it does mean that all the councillors feel included and comfortable and we are not forcing anything on them that they don't agree with." Meng Foon commended Jepson for backtracking on the ban and suggested that the local community needed to undergo a healing process. By that stage, a petition calling for Jepson to resign as mayor had attracted over 5,500 signatures.
Bilingualism and co-governance In July 2023, Jepson issued a directive to remove the
Māori language from the Kaipara District's annual plan despite councillors agreeing on the sole bilingual copy. He claimed that he was motivated by a desire to produce "easier to read" documents. Jepson later proposed translating the English report into a Māori language one using
artificial intelligence. Following pushback from local Māori iwi, Jepson issued a directive for a bilingual report based on the English annual plan to be produced. Jepson's decisions particularly the use of AI translation software were criticised by fellow Councillor Paniora, who described it as disrespectful to Māori and claimed that it would lead to the "bastardisation" of the Māori language. On 26 July 2023, several Māori speakers including Paniora,
Mangawhai resident Caren Davis, and Aotearoa Liberation League spokesperson
Pere Huriwai-Seger defended the importance of
Tikanga Māori (Māori knowledge), Māori empowerment, and criticised Jepson's handling of the annual report's Māori translation. Huriwai-Seger also urged the District Council not to give a platform to controversial activist
Julian Batchelor's controversial "Stop Co-Governance" national tour. In response, Jepson introduced Batchelor as a "surprise" guest speaker and defended him on "free speech" grounds.
Māori ward On 7 August 2024, Jepson joined a majority of the Kaipara District Council's membership in voting to disestablish the Council's
Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward, which had been introduced during the
2022 New Zealand local elections and was won by Councillor Pera Paniora. The extraordinary council meeting attracted 150 protesters calling for the retention of the Council's Māori ward. The vote passed by a margin of six to three with one abstention. Following the vote, Jepson stated "I reject the notion that Māori must have a designated ward to ensure representation. The establishment and need for Māori wards relies on a false narrative."
Withdrawal from LGNZ In late May 2023, Jepson led the Kaipara District Council's decision to withdraw from
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), the national representative body for local government bodies. Jepson claimed that LGNZ tended to represent government views to councils rather than councils' views to the government. Jepson's withdrawal motion was supported by Deputy Mayor Jonathan Larsen and fellow Crs Ash Nayaar, Gordon Lambeth, Ron Manderson, and Rachael Williams. The withdrawal motion was opposed by Crs Pera Paniora and Eryn Wilson-Collins while Crs Mike Howard and Mark Vincent were absent from the meeting. Following a tense public meeting, the Kaipara District Council voted by a margin of 5 to 3 votes to back Jepson's complaint letter alleging irregularities in the election process. On 20 October, the
Department of Internal Affairs's local government general manager Richard Ward confirmed the department had received Jepson's complaint but clarified that it did not have the jurisdiction to investigate the complaint and was unable to halt the release of local election results in Kaipara. The Department clarified that Kaipara's electoral officer Dale Ofsoske had jurisdiction to investigate electoral irregularities. Ofsoske vouched for the integrity of the 2025 Kaipara and Northland elections. Kaipara District Council chief executive Jason Marris said that several "small issues" about the elections had been addressed, with only one complaint being referred to the Police. ==Views and positions==