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Kavinda Herath / Things
Invercargill Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt at a council meeting.
Invercargill Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt says the city council must cut back on its “current faction mindset” as it responds to concerns raised by the Department of Internal Affairs.
DIA wrote to Shadbolt and the council’s executive director, Clare Hadley, on August 18, asking for “assurance and evidence” that the council was taking steps to restore confidence in the way the council operates.
In the letter, DIA representative Anita Balakrishnan says that concerns about the council had been raised through media articles and other correspondence she had received.
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In a report presented to councilors at an excluded public meeting last week, Shadbolt says the DIA’s allegations are “extremely serious” and he hoped that the complaints to the DIA would come from within the council.
“In my opinion, the best and wisest way to address these extremely serious allegations is to listen to exactly the people who made these complaints.”
Shadbolt says he hates continuing to spend taxpayer money on consultants, investigators and lawyers until the council can assure itself of a genuine desire to stop a fractional mindset.
Cr Nobby Clark has also previously alluded to a split around the council table, but was unwilling to elaborate on who was aligned with whom.
Last month two complaints about the Code of Conduct were filed against two different councilors.
In the report, Shadbolt says he has no recollection in 25 years as mayor of Invercargill that he had presided over any conduct complaints until the last three years.
“Some councilors have publicly questioned my abilities as a meeting chair as a contributing factor. However, I would like to point out that in the current period none of the Code of Conduct complaints has been associated with the meetings that I chaired. ”
Shadbolt included a number of proposals in his report.
It included asking that independent members of the audit and risk committee urgently interview as many councilors and staff as they deem necessary and report back to them.
However, the motions proposed by Shadbolt were not moved and seconded and, in turn, were not voted.
The day after Shadbolt presented the report to councilors, he and Hadley issued a joint statement regarding that excluded public meeting.
Shadbolt said the meeting was “positive in the sense that the council had found a way forward with everyone on board.”
An extraordinary meeting will be held on Friday at 9 am in which the framework of the “Plan of the Department of Internal Affairs” will be confirmed.
Governance expert Bruce Robertson has been hired to help.
