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Robyn Edie / Stuff
Invercargill Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt, left, and Deputy Mayor Nobby Clark are understood to have featured prominently in an independent review of Invercargill City Council governance.
Some Invercargill city council members are uncomfortable with Nobby Clark as deputy mayor and have gone so far as to discuss removing him from his job.
The council met Thursday night to consider the findings of a government review of independence in an excluded public session that lasted more than three hours.
The council has not yet released the results of the review.
Stuff understands that the possibility of removing Clark as MP was also discussed at the meeting. Although Clark himself described the meeting as the most positive he has attended since joining the council.
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When asked if council members want him removed as deputy mayor, Clark said he doesn’t know.
It is understood that the independent governance review does not include any recommendation to remove anyone from office.
Stuff understands that criticism of Clark and Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt featured prominently in the comments collected from councilors for the review, as well as in the findings of the review itself.
Clark appears to have annoyed other councilors over comments made in the media since joining the council in October last year.
Clark said she would “have to take my medicine” regarding any criticism and take the review’s findings into account.
He said he couldn’t discuss exactly what those findings were at this stage.
Shadbolt appointed Clark as his new deputy following the resignation of Toni Biddle.
Councilors can call a vote if they want to remove the deputy mayor from office.
The independence governance review was carried out following concerns raised by the Department of Internal Affairs in August, regarding a “significant conflict” in the council.
Most of the councilors did not return calls when approached on Friday, although those interviewed were happy with the development of the meeting.
Cr Darren Ludlow said everyone was well behaved at the meeting.
“While the report has some things that are challenging, I’m pretty sure we can deal with what it contains. After last night’s meeting, I am quite optimistic about the future, ” Ludlow said.
Cr Peter Kett said the report was very comprehensive and that he was also optimistic about the future, as was Cr Lindsay Abbott.
Kett is in his sixth term as a councilman and said the past 12 months have been the most difficult he has experienced given the challenges at the council table.
In a board statement released Friday, it says the board unanimously accepted the findings of the review, which was produced by independent governance expert Bruce Robertson and independent evaluator Richard Thomson.
However, at this point, the council has kept the review’s findings private as they work on a plan for the future with the DIA.
The council’s executive director, Clare Hadley, acknowledged the great public interest in the outcome of the review.
However, he said it was important for the council to follow the process by working with the DIA to discuss a plan for the future.
He said they were acting urgently to address the issues raised and agree on a way forward that will restore community trust.
“This is a priority for me, the mayor and council members, and we are all working together to make the right decisions for the city,” Hadley said.
On Thursday night, the council unanimously agreed to adopt the governance review report produced by independent evaluator Richard Thomson.
The statement released Friday morning says it has agreed to a number of possible actions to address the issues it raised.
In the statement, Shadbolt said that everyone at the council table is committed to working together to maintain the trust of the community.
“There is no question that this process is raising some challenging issues for our council to address, but we are up to the task.
“We have some good ideas on how to move forward and once we’ve worked them out with the DIA. I look forward to sharing our path forward with the community and moving forward with the task at hand. “
