Since early last month, Invercargill city councillors took part in several behind-closed-doors meetings to deal with letters received by elected members relating to employment matters.
The Otago Daily Times understands one of those was a complaint from chief executive Michael Day about how Mayor Nobby Clark treated him and there was also an anonymous complaint received only by two elected members which contained "serious allegations", which has prompted a council investigation.
Another closed-door meeting was took place on Tuesday when elected members received a verbal update from the chief executive as well as an update into the investigation.
After discussing those, the issues had now been put into bed and was considered closed, a source said.
The two separate matters both related to employment issues — the complaint from Mr Day towards Mr Clark and the allegations from the anonymous letter.
Mr Clark refused to comment yesterday, but confirmed Mr Day had returned to work.
Sources told the Otago Daily Times things between the chief executive and the mayor "were looking better" and they believed the issue was now sorted.
The council’s communications team last month did not reply to questions around Mr Day’s absence and if it was related to the closed-door meetings.
Another public-excluded meeting on March 24 had an item on the agenda "Appointment of Investigator", and the reason to be discussed in private was to "protect the privacy of natural persons".
At the time, elected members agreed to appoint an independent investigator to examine the allegations made in this anonymous letter.
This matter was now also sorted and both issues were considered closed and no further action required, sources said.
The council declined to comment.
