Gore District Council deputy mayor Keith Hovell said in a statement released on Thursday night, the council was committed to providing the high level of governance expected from its elected representatives.
A notice of motion will be considered at next week’s council meeting seeking an independent review and advice on restoring confidence in the governance leadership. The notice of motion is in response to confidential information from an in-committee meeting on March 28 being leaked and the breakdown in the relationship between the chief executive and mayor.
Cr Hovell submitted the notice of motion last week. It was endorsed by eight other councillors: Richard McPhail, Glenys Dickson, Neville Phillips, Bronwyn Reid, Paul McPhail, Joe Stringer, Stewart MacDonell and John Gardyne. Mayor Ben Bell was not involved, as he had a conflict of interest, Mr Hovell said.
When contacted yesterday, Mr Hovell said the advice the council was looking to get would be from the terms of reference which would be drawn up by a combined team of council staff and councillors.
The terms of reference would come in the next council meeting in May.
Councillors had not appreciated the extent of the breakdown in the relationship between the chief executive and the mayor before the meeting on March 28, Cr Hovell said.
Cr McPhail was appointed as an intermediary to improve communication between the mayoral office and staff.
Mr Hovell had no idea how much the move to provide a higher level of governance leadership would cost but it would be considerably cheaper than what could be imposed on the council by the Department of Internal Affairs.
He expected it take two months to work through to get a successful conclusion.
The Invercargill City Council had a governance review in 2020, after the Department of Internal Affairs raised concerns about the effectiveness of the council.
That led to the appointment of two active observers and other changes to promote positive action.
The only councillor to vote against the motion proposed by Mr Hovell was Robert McKenzie.
When contacted Cr McKenzie said he was not against the idea but he was not going to sign it until he had a chance to look at it. It was a little bit rushed, he said.
The council will meet on Tuesday to consider the motion.
