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Stuff
Former Stadium Southland manager Nigel Skelt: departed from that job and resigned as an Invercargill city councillor.
The terms of reference for the Stadium Southland investigation into the handling of a complaint against its former manager, Nigel Skelt, have not been made public.
The interim chair of the Southland Indoor Leisure Centre Charitable Trust’s board of directors, Hayden Rankin, has confirmed that an unnamed Christchurch barrister, experienced in investigations, would provide a “comprehensive, independent view of the process’’.
But he has declined to release the terms of reference, which would reveal the scope of the review.
It was expected to be completed within the next four to six weeks, though the timing would depend on the reviewer’s workload, Rankin said.
READ MORE:
* Nigel Skelt resigns as Invercargill City Councillor after inappropriate conduct scandal
* Praise for teenaged Skelt complainant from National Council of Women
* ‘Hell will freeze over’ before Invercargill city councillors will work together
* Stadium Southland harassment victim’s family mistrusted mayoral motives, documents show
Skelt left his job as stadium manager after a settlement was quietly negotiated by Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark for a teenaged staff member who had quit in distress and made a complaint of inappropriate conduct against Skelt in February.
Skelt was also an Invercargill city councillor though he later resigned from that role too, after details of the complaint and deal became public.
Mayoral emails released in response to a Stuff request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA), revealed that Clark negotiated the deal with the knowledge of Alan Dennis, who is the chair of both the charitable trust, and the board of directors which sits under it.
Clark is the council’s representative on the stadium trust – which owns and handles fundraising for the facility – but is not on its board.
Dennis has stepped aside from his chairmanship roles while the inquiry is under way.
Exactly when the board, or the trust, found out about the complaint and the deal remains unclear at this stage.
The emails released under LGOIMA detail only part of what happened – essentially communications to and from the mayor.
The trust’s side of the records are not searchable under official information legislation.
The deal that was negotiated included payment of $3000 compensation to the teenager, a direction for Skelt to undertake psychological counselling, and an assurance to her family that future management behaviour would be monitored.
The focus on confidentiality was such that Clark had not informed either the council’s chief executive Michael Day, or councillors, about the complaint or the deal.
Day said he became aware of the details of the issue when the council received the LGOIMA request March 29.
Councillors were briefed on the matter the day the disclosures went out to the news media. Skelt’s resignation came after calls for his resignation from inside and outside councillor ranks. Cr Ria Bond said she would resign from the council if he returned
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