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Kavinda Herath / Things
Invercargill City Councilman Nobby Clark at a council meeting Tuesday.
Invercargill Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt has appointed Councilor Nobby Clark as his new Deputy Mayor.
Current MP Toni Biddle announced her resignation from the council on Friday.
In a written statement, Shadbolt confirmed that he would introduce Councilman Clark as the new deputy mayor at the next council meeting.
The appointment will take effect Oct. 20, after Biddle ends, Shadbolt said.
Shadbolt said he felt it was appropriate to take swift action after recent events and that it was important for the public to have some reassurance and reassurance that the city was under a strong leadership team.
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Shortly after Biddle’s resignation announcement on Friday, Shadbolt came under fire from his colleague Alex Crackett, who suggested it was time for him to resign.
Crackett believed that the deputy mayor had actually been doing Shadbolt’s work for him.
Biddle said Monday that he felt like he had been doing the mayor’s job for the past 12 months, but said it was difficult because he didn’t have the mandate to do the job.
When asked why she thought she had to do Shadbolt’s job, she was cautious in answering.
“I think I’ve been doing her job because her Worship has definitely shown me that she has stepped back and someone had to step forward.”
In an email from Shadbolt, he said it was “extremely inaccurate and misleading” for Biddle to say he had stepped down from his mayoral duties.
On Friday, CEO Clare Hadley said the council would consider the position of deputy mayor at the Oct. 27 council meeting.
A council spokesperson confirmed Monday that the mayor had the power to appoint the deputy mayor, and the council would not need to vote on the mayor’s appointment to ratify the position.
The Local Government Law, however, shows that if the councilors were not happy with their deputy mayor, the councilors could vote to remove the deputy from office.
Biddle was not surprised that Shadbolt had chosen Clark as his understudy.
“Cr Clark has been a great support person for the mayor and I think the mayor is comfortable with him.
“Although I don’t think other councilors will support Tim’s decision and I’m afraid this could bring more personal problems to the [council] environment.”
Shadbolt was confident that councilors would respect his decision and the importance of appointing someone with whom he could proactively work.
He said Cr Clark brought with him strong connections with stakeholders, significant support from the community and a desire to eliminate red tape to get things done, Shadbolt said.
“I feel like we have the same goals to guide the council for the next two years and the significant issues that we are currently facing,” he said.
Shadbolt appointed Clark to the key position of chair of finance and policy after last year’s election, however, he lost that position when councilors agreed to a governance structure overhaul, which included merging committees.
Clark was the highest voting councilor in last year’s election.
