Tim Shadbolt’s assistant resigns: I did his job for him; advice ‘toxic’

Invercargill’s outgoing deputy mayor says Sir Tim Shadbolt had tears in his eyes when he told him he envied his decision to resign.

Two months before Cr Toni Biddle told Sir Tim that he would resign, causing further disorder in a besieged Invercargill City Hall, he was in hospital after suffering a panic attack.

She says the panic attack was triggered by the “toxic and unhealthy” environment at the council and the stress of doing the mayor’s job for him.

Now, after resigning, he says there is a leadership vacuum in the council and that the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) must step in and install a commissioner.

Sir Tim said he did not cry when Biddle told him about her departure, but he did not deny commenting on envy.

“It has been a concerted effort to understand that I am a crying baby and it is not true. I have a hard time crying.”

He admitted that it would be nice to have a long vacation, but that didn’t mean he would consider retiring.

Biddle declined to go into details about her panic attack, but said being a deputy mayor was affecting her health and she was relieved that she had made the decision to resign.

Her father’s death last month also highlighted the importance of taking care of herself and her family.

“I’m not ashamed to admit that I was incredibly stressed at the time.” Then I knew I shouldn’t be there.

“My health was being affected more than I thought, so that was the turning point for me.”

He said that he still respected Sir Tim, but that he thought he was tired.

Biddle was clear about what this meant: “He was doing his job.”

She believed that even though Sir Tim was exhausted, he would still run for the next election due to his financial difficulties.

“He’s in a position where he’s been sued by another councilman, which has meant he has legal fees … I think he’s in a position that he can’t.” [stand down].

“I completely understand it, but what happens is that the community now does not benefit from that because we need a strong leader.”

The absence of one was the source of many of the council’s problems, he said.

“What happens is that when you have a leadership void, there is a void and everyone tries to fill that void and that’s where the problem starts because you don’t have a clear leader.”

It was time for a commissioner to step in because dysfunction meant that important decisions were not being made.

“We are not focusing on the problems. We are focusing on individual personalities and then nothing is decided.”

“It is necessary to appoint a commissioner and we must all resign or walk away [from council.]”

Sir Tim said that leadership was “a funny thing.”

“A lot of people say ‘Oh, you’re a hopeless leader,’ but it’s not that simple.

“I googled, what is leadership? There were 67 million visits to what was leadership. Nobody really knows, that’s the conclusion I have reached.

“They said you are a leader because you are the mayor. And I say: no. It’s not like that.

“The mayor is just a figurehead. The council leader is the CEO and senior staff.

“We are elected members [and] I don’t have much power. Everyone thinks you run the city … but it’s very different from what is portrayed in the media. “

Sir Tim denied that his financial situation was the reason for running for mayor again.

He said former councilwoman Karen Arnold, who unsuccessfully sued him, left the council and was declared bankrupt by the court after a defended hearing, was “leading a normal life.”

“That could have been an option … but I still love the job.

“When you’re under constant pressure and criticism and people try to get you out, my reaction is to dig in my toes and make it even harder for them.

“I’ve been through a lot of battles, I have been arrested 33 times and incarcerated twice. It would take a lot of pressure to make me quit my job.”

Sir Tim believed that he was a good leader and was “fit as a violin.”

“I am a great leader because, one, I can communicate and, two, I am a household name.

“I know it’s a cliché, but people say I put the city on the map and some elements of that are true because it was a dying city when I came here.”

“I know I’m doing a good job, but you have some downtime. You just need to enjoy the improvements and hang on when things aren’t going quite right.

“The last few weeks have been quite traumatic, difficult and challenging and it is not a very pleasant place to be.

“But I don’t feel too bad because I know it’s a roller coaster.”