Deputy Mayor Nobby Clark violated the Invercargill City Council Code of Conduct

An independent investigation found that Deputy Mayor Nobby Clark violated the Invercargill City Council Code of Conduct with a comment he made about CEO Clare Hadley in August.

Cr Ian Pottinger filed the Code of Conduct complaint following a statement made by Clark at an August 11 meeting.

Wellington’s attorney, Robert Buchanan, has conducted an investigation into the complaint.

He discovered that Clark had violated the council’s Code of Conduct when he questioned Hadley’s “veracity” in public.

Clark told Stuff on Friday that there was little he could say at this point, but added that he would do whatever it takes, regarding a possible penalty, to help the council move forward.

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The council could choose not to act, ask Clark to apologize, or propose another penalty.

The matter will be discussed at Tuesday’s association, policy and performance committee meeting, where councilors will have to decide whether to accept Buchanan’s report.

Buchanan has not provided a recommendation on what the penalty should be.

The statement that prompted the complaint came in August while another Code of Conduct complaint was being discussed, which was filed by Hadley against then-Deputy Mayor Toni Biddle.

Clark questioned the chair of the performance, policies and associations committee, Darren Ludlow, about why the Code of Conduct complaint against Biddle had been brought to that committee and not to the full council.

Ludlow told Clark that Hadley had already addressed that, alluding to an email Clark had sent to Hadley on the matter.

In response to Ludlow, Clark said; “It is assuming the presidency that the executive director is giving a truthful situation and I do not think that is the case, so I have the right to question that.”

That prompted Pottinger to file the complaint.

“Entering into filing a Code of Conduct complaint is not a second guess procedure for me, so I sought professional advice on the substance of the matter.

“The council gave me the assurance that I needed to feel that this complaint is justified,” Pottinger wrote in his letter where he filed the complaint.

In Buchanan’s investigation, he says that Clark was justified in seeking clarification at the meeting about what Hadley had said in her email response to Clark about where any Code of Conduct should sit.

Although it was difficult for Buchanan to see what justification Clark had for making a public statement that questioned the veracity of the CEO.

“He may have made his statement in the heat of the moment, but that doesn’t excuse him.”

A report prepared by Hadley for Tuesday’s meeting says Clark will have a chance to speak in his own defense.

“For the sake of clarity, this is not to re-criticize Mr. Buchanan’s findings. Rather, it is to allow Cr Clark the opportunity to offer any mitigating circumstances and / or comment on any possible sanctions, ” Hadley’s report reads.

Buchanan’s report says that if Ludlow, as chair of the meeting, had to challenge Clark at the time and ask him to stand down and apologize, Clark could have done so and the issue would have been resolved.

Ludlow acknowledged that he possibly should have, however it was at his discretion as president.

Buchanan’s report says Ludlow’s main concern at the time was dealing with Biddle’s problem, “for which she was visibly upset.”

Since the Code of Conduct complaint was filed, Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt has promoted Clark to deputy mayor after Biddle resigned from the council in October.

Subsequently, Hadley’s Complaint Code against Biddle was removed.