After being stripped of the chairmanship of the influential City Council Zoning and Planning Committee on Thursday, Council Vice Chairman Ikaika Anderson lashed out at the man who dumped him: Council Chairman Ernie Martin.

In an email in response to a request for comment by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Anderson said he was being punished by Martin for political reasons and that Martin’s clashes with Mayor Kirk Caldwell have hampered the Council’s effectiveness.

“The Council’s credibility with the public has seriously deteriorated with the constant bickering between Chair Martin and the mayor,” Anderson said. “It has impacted the Council’s ability to function as we are caught up in the middle of it all.”

Martin announced Thursday in a memorandum that, effective immediately, Councilman Trevor Ozawa will take over leadership of the Zoning Committee from Anderson, who had led it for more than five years.

The change in committee assignments came a day after a separate proposal to strip Anderson of his title as Council vice chairman was nixed at the last minute of Wednesday’s monthly Council meeting. A resolution introduced by Ozawa placing Councilman Joey Manahan as vice chairman was shelved at Ozawa’s request.

Under the changes announced Thursday, Anderson will not lead any committee, but will serve as Honolulu’s representative to the Hawaii State Association of Counties.

Anderson said he declined when Martin asked him to lead the Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee, which had been led by Ozawa. He said he suggested that Councilman Ron Menor, an attorney, take that role instead, and Martin agreed. Menor had led that committee before Ozawa.

The Public Health, Safety and Welfare Committee, previously headed by Menor, is now led by Councilman Brandon Elefante. The Business, Economic Development and Tourism Committee, previously headed by Elefante, was dissolved.

To see the committee assignments, go to bit.ly/ 29sBvbW.

Anderson said he was told by Martin last week that a majority of Council members wanted him removed as Council vice chairman.

But Anderson suggested that Martin and Ozawa could not muster five votes on the nine-member Council to have him removed. “Without my urging, my colleagues made it known to Martin and (Ozawa) that a solid majority supports me as Council vice chair,” he said.

Because committee assignments are solely the purview of the chairman, “Martin decided to punish me in the only way possible,” Anderson said, referring to Martin’s removing him as Zoning Committee chairman.

Anderson said he suspects the moves are tied to the mayoral election. “I suppose this is the price for attending a Mayor Kirk Caldwell fundraiser under a Martin/Ozawa partnership,” he said.

Martin and Ozawa have been among Caldwell’s staunchest critics, although neither has stated whom they are endorsing for mayor in next month’s election. Anderson has said he is a political ally of the mayor and that Caldwell has also supported him in past campaigns.

Ozawa said the committee changes are not the result of any individual. “There are always conversations about changes, things people like and don’t like,” he said. He said he spoke to Martin about the need to get Menor and Elefante more involved.

“He’s playing ‘throw the first punch and let everybody else react,’” Ozawa said of Anderson, adding that he had not known Anderson had attended a Caldwell fundraiser.

Martin’s memo outlining the new committee assignments gave no explanation for the changes, but in an email Martin said he restructured committee assignments “in an effort to build a stronger, deeper and more versatile City Council.”

The Council is like a sports team, Martin said. “If each player is capable of fulfilling more than one role, it helps the team’s overall depth and capacity.”

Martin added, “This reassignment of committee responsibilities is aimed at helping us become a better, stronger and more effective team for the City and County of Honolulu.”

Told Thursday night of Anderson’s criticism, Martin’s executive assistant, Peter Boylan, said the chairman was standing by his earlier statements.