Invercargill City councillors have voted for Mayor Nobby Clark to stand down from public speaking duties, but the majority don’t want him to resign.
An initial motion for a letter to be written asking him to tender his resignation, failed to cross the line (6-5) at an Extraordinary Council meeting, that attracted national television media and 800+ watchers online.
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Mayor Clark Responds: Will Not Be Silenced (full letter)
Mayor Clark spoke at the beginning of the meeting saying the code of conduct complaint was overly harsh but had accepted the outcome of the investigation.
He told councillors that in his time as both deputy and Mayor he’d attended more than 300 meetings, and admitted on two occasions he had not performed well.
But he reminded them that it shouldn’t take away from the good work he had done for the city.
“I do not accept the public complaint should be dealt with in this way. I will take leave to seek review. It is in my view a dangerous precedent.”
Mayor Clark refused to be involved in the investigation and initially declined to be interviewed by Linda Clark, but once he saw the report, agreed to participate.
Comments around the table included, that he’d let the council down, made an error of judgement and had a lack of respect in his role of Mayor – letting his personal opinions interfere with his job.
Cr Grant Dermody said there was no doubt he made a significant error of judgement, “but I also know he is genuinely remorseful.”
Questioning the Mayor’s health after heart surgery and what duty of care council should have taken, “and how we look after people in these roles,” his comments were backed up by Deputy Mayor Tom Campbell, who chaired the meeting.
Mayor Clark was granted three months leave of absence to recover from heart surgery, but came back after two, and Cr Barry Stewart agreed it was too early.
Cr Ian Pottinger’s formal motion that the council ask Mayor Clark in a letter to stand down failed, and was replaced by Cr Campbell’s one to remove him from public speaking duties until the end of his term.
Cr Campbell said the Mayor had told councillors he was suffering from brain fog when he came back to work, and this was backed up by two cardiac specialists in the last 48 hours, who spoke publicly about the condition.
The fact that it could continue for two years led to Cr Campbell strongly recommending that he steps down from all public duties until the end of his term, in case it happened again.
Cr Peter Kett said while he was disappointed in the Mayor, and believed he overstepped the mark on this occasion, “I hope and pray he has learned his lesson, because deep down he’s not a bad buggar.”
Cr Allan Arnold wanted to remind everyone “that we’re all just normal people, and unfortunate things happen,” but said Mayor Clark had a certain style who was outspoken at times.
“But this community of Invercargill is definitely moving forward in the right direction.”
He believed Mayor Clark was still the right person for the job.
Council agreed Mayor Clark should also personally apologise to the female he offended at the United Fire Brigade Association meeting.