Gore council problems: Residents have their say

Earlier this week, Gore district councillors called for Mayor Ben Bell to resign.

• Gore council turmoil inevitable: academic

Mr Bell rejected the request and as a result the council will discuss the issue at an extraordinary meeting in Gore this Tuesday.

The reasons given for the request were:

• The majority of councillors had lost confidence in the mayor.

• The majority of councillors had lost trust in the mayor acting in the best interests of the community and the council as a whole.

In a statement on Thursday night, Mr Bell said it was disappointing to see the councillors call for his resignation.

WORD ON THE STREET

Otago Daily Times reporter Toni McDonald hit the streets of Gore yesterday morning to find out what residents thought about the upheaval at Gore District Council.

Residents were asked the following questions:

• Do you support Ben Bell’s position as mayor?

• What do you think about what is happening within the council?

"The people democratically elected the mayor to the position and some needed to accept that. 

"I believe there were some councillors who have been around too long and the council needs to be rejuvenated. People get into entrenched positions and think it’s theirs for life ... it’s healthy for the community to have a rejuvenation of council both at governance and management level - it keeps them fresh."

"Yes, because he would be the young people’s voice for the next generation coming up.

"I think he would be better than these old codgers that are set in their ways and not really bending to the ways. If you don’t let the young people have a go and try ... 

"He’s only 23 years old so he’s a wee bit young, but if he can do what he can with a mature head on him he should be OK."

"Yes. He was voted in — let him do his job."

"No. I think it would be appropriate if he stood down. There’s too much disruption. It is taking a financial toll on the community and affecting the efficiency of council operations."

"I don’t know. I hoped he would bring a younger and fresh perspective and a view for the younger people of this town and Mataura as well. Mataura gets forgotten, yet they pay just as many rates as the rest of us."

"Yes, we should give him a shot. He’s young. Someone’s got to give him a chance. He is new and might know things older people didn’t."

"Unsure. There was always going to be some tension with a new person coming in irrespective of who they are. The prior establishment has been there a long time. So someone new coming in was always going to shake things up a bit for better or worse. Possible the age might not be in his favour. People might be concerned about the level of experience. You could have the perfect person walk in and they would have a hard time with the people that have been there forever."