Next month, the council will decide on a no-confidence vote in Sir Kerry's leadership, which could lead to the election of a new chairman if he loses.
After a vote at a council meeting in Timaru on Thursday, his hold on the chairmanship could be tenuous.
Two South Canterbury councillors, Mark Oldfield and Bronwen Murray, put forward a notice of motion expressing no confidence in Sir Kerry as chairman.
The motion was filed with council administration on Friday, August 21 - too late to be included on the agenda for Thursday's council meeting.
The council on Thursday considered whether the motion should be included in the council agenda for its meeting on September 24, the 14 councillors deciding by eight votes to six that it should.
At the next month's meeting, councillors will settle the issue.
If the motion is passed, expressing no confidence in his leadership, then a new chairman will have to be elected.
Sir Kerry was narrowly re-elected chairman in October 2007 after the local body elections.
Sir Kerry and Cr Alec Neill, a former Waitaki MP for the National Party, were tied 7-all and the decision could have been decided by a toss of a coin.
However, after a break in the council meeting, Cr Murray changed her vote to give the chairmanship to Sir Kerry by 8-6.
This time Cr Murray has supported the notice of motion to remove Sir Kerry.
Those who opted for having a vote next month were Crs Oldfield, Murray, Neill, Jo Kane (deputy chairwoman), Ross Little, Angus McKay, Carole Evans and Pat Harrow.
Those who opposed it were Sir Kerry, Bob Kirk, Eugenie Sage, David Sutherland, Jane Demeter and Rik Tindall.
The vote of no confidence being faced by Sir Kerry shows the "systemic amount of unhappiness" happening in the regional council, Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean says.
She told a North Otago Federated Farmers meeting yesterday she spent a lot of time on the telephone and in meetings with farmers who were trying to go about their business of farming and found themselves "against a monolith called ECan".
She listened almost daily to farmers and groups of farmers facing delays and costs in processing of resource consents, she said.
david.bruce@odt.co.nz