Mayor Back From Month Long Break

Nobby Clark hasn’t used the ‘C’ word for an entire month.  I doubt he’s used the’N’ word either.

The Mayor of Invercargill and partner Karen have just returned from a few weeks in Thailand, where there was absolutely no talk of council.

Invercargill City councillors voted for Mayor Nobby Clark to stand down from public speaking duties two months ago following his code of conduct complaint, but he opted to take a month off instead.

Back this Monday to work, he now faces a second code of conduct by fellow councillors Ian Pottinger and Ria Bond, that will be discussed at an extraordinary council meeting on Friday at 2pm. Related: Support For Mayor Clark Through Code of Conduct Process

It sprang largely from his willingness to explicitly cite the ’n’-word in speeches and interviews, seeking to make a point that it was a double standard since artists and performers were able to use such language.

The grapevine around town tells him this code of conduct complaint won’t be as nasty as the last from the United Firefighters Association, with no “Mayor bashing” this time around.

“They have asked me to apologise and I did that yesterday but they’ll probably write a letter to censure me and put me on restricted duties again,” he said.

But Mayor Clark said nobody could force him to do anything, and he would continue to attend public meetings in his role.

“The Mayor is the Mayor.  I have been still going to public meetings but share it with Tom my deputy anyway,” he said.

What he has learned in amongst all of the drama, was he no longer trusted mainstream media, and would continue to use his council communications team for his messaging.

Mayor Clark continues to support whatsoninvers.nz and he regularly appears on our 90 Seconds+ videos with founder Mike Sanford.

Any ‘gaslighting’ from journalists trying to stitch him up with allegations of racism, sexism, ageism or anything else without clear examples would face consequences, he said.