A petition asking for Mr Parry’s resignation was apparently supported by more than 4800 people and it is to appear on the agenda of the council’s June 13 meeting at Gore Mayor Ben Bell’s request.
Mr Bell has himself faced calls to quit, but councillors last month backed out of pressing for a symbolic vote declaring their lack of confidence in him.
The relationship between the council’s chief executive of two decades and the rookie mayor — elected at age 23 in October — broke down last year.
Last week, councillors had an agenda item in front of them about draft terms of reference for a review tasked with identifying why trust and confidence had eroded between various parties and how a rebuild might happen.
The estimated cost of the review is $130,000.
Minutes from a March 28 meeting behind closed doors, released under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, indicate much frustration will need to be traversed. Mr Parry described the period between October and December as dreadful.
"He had never in his life experienced isolation and things just unfolding in front of him with great surprise," the minutes said.
The mayor and chief executive had two one-on-one conversations in eight weeks.
Mediation did not result in a resolution.
One sticking point was Mr Bell’s reluctance to have the council pay for Mr Parry’s legal expenses.
"Since mediation, there were still problems and some had become acute," the minutes said of Mr Parry’s perspective.
He "just wanted to be able to do his job", the minutes said.
An example of his frustration came after the council’s annual report had been adopted and the mayor needed to sign the letter of representation to the auditors.
Mr Parry told councillors the mayor wanted to visit the auditors.
"The chief executive had told him if it was not signed the approval would become null and void and he would have to go back to the council for approval again, which would be embarrassing," the minutes said.
"He recorded his extreme disquiet about the mayor saying he wanted to move forward yet asking for his 2020-21 appraisal process and seeking specific commentary about performance."
Mr Parry’s view was the relationship had broken down irreparably.
The chief executive had "battled on and tried to remain positive and professional despite provocative circumstances and shambolic behaviour on display".
For his part, Mr Bell said the situation had been exhausting — not the role of being mayor, but the ongoing and unresolved relationship issues with the chief executive.
"While people communicated differently, he had tried his utmost to be patient and professional," the minutes said of Mr Bell’s perspective.
"He had been sorely disappointed and hurt.
"He had tried time and time again to make it work but found himself in a constant position of sleepless [nights] and feeling like a council of one."
Mr Bell said they met on March 13 and "in my opinion the meeting went well, and we reached an agreement with some compromise on both sides".
The mayor concluded he was "tired of going this alone and [would] now leave it in the council’s hands to find a way forward".
On May 19, the mayor asked for the petition against the chief executive to go on the council’s June 13 agenda.
A staff report, to be written by community lifestyle services general manager Rex Capil, will accompany the petition.
