Clutha District Council has announced the resignation of Balclutha ward councillor Kevin Barron last week, although the council did not provide Mr Barron’s reasoning in its statement.
"Clutha District Council chief executive Steve Hill received Mr Barron’s resignation on 10 December and said as it was less than a year out from the next local body election it did not require council to a hold by-election," the council said.
Mr Barron was a first-term councillor, elected in 2022.
The Otago Daily Times contacted Mr Barron yesterday, who said he had provided full reasoning for his decision in his letter to Mr Hill.
He said he shared concerns about the performance of the council and councillors raised in a recent council-commissioned resident satisfaction survey, and was particularly unhappy with an apparent "lack of interest [within council] to make the changes sought by ratepayers".
Released in September, the results of the survey showed satisfaction with elected members’ decision-making, planning and leadership fell below 50%, from 62% in 2023, to 47%.
Only 55% of residents were satisfied with the overall performance of the council.
However, Clutha District Mayor Bryan Cadogan said he "refuted" Mr Barron’s claim the council was uninterested in ratepayers’ wishes.
"Kevin was democratically elected, we respect his request to resign and wish him well."
"I haven’t seen Kevin’s letter, nor had a chance to talk to him since he resigned. However, if his reasoning is what you’re telling me, I absolutely refute that. We all have differences of opinion on how councils are run, but this council overwhelmingly follows the majority consensus as put forward in submissions by ratepayers during consultation."
Mr Cadogan acknowledged there was dissatisfaction among ratepayers, "but council residents’ surveys across the country are also reflective of the current angst within our wider society".
Since Mr Barron’s resignation fell within a year of the next local government elections, the council was not obliged to replace him. However, councillors would meet on February 20 to decide what next steps to take, he said.
It is not the first time Mr Barron and the council have differed.
In 2018, he applied for a judicial review of the way the council removed him as leader of the Balclutha Memorial Hall Co-ordinating Group, which was overseeing the hall’s redevelopment.
In January 2020, Justice Anne Hinton dismissed Mr Barron’s application, due to insufficient grounds.
