Deputy Mayor Does An About Turn on Position

Aimee Wilson

Apr 01, 2022 - 1 min read

Deputy Mayor Nobby Clark is not one to usually change his mind – but life is full of surprises.

Come Friday, he won’t be signing off the job next to Sir Tim Shadbolt as planned, but carrying on life as usual.

The Mayor was about to lose his fourth deputy in five years, but somehow he’s convinced him to stay.

Apparently they have found something to finally agree on, and Sir Tim shares Nobby’s concerns regarding council actions over the next few months, “which will need to be driven by experience and not by people who are new to leadership positions,” a message from His Worship’s office read today.

Last week Nobby called the ICC “ultra conservative,” and said there were issues that they have dealt with, that he’s not happy about.

But in his Deputy Mayor role he felt restricted with what he could say – as his position was one of leadership and a senior role.

Holding the Deputy position for the past 18 months, he doesn’t plan on standing again in six months anyway.

Sir Tim said in his statement that following the “surprise” announcement of his resignation, he asked him to re-evaluate his notice.

“At my request, Nobby has given the matter some time and consideration and has agreed to withdraw his resignation.

“We agree that there are several key issues which require particular focus, the successful conclusion of the Southland Disability Enterprises contract, the final museum project development and the best rates solution for ratepayers.

“Nobby and I want the issues to be the focus for the final six months of this term, not the political aspirations of certain councillors.”