Vote of no confidence in Gore mayor Ben Bell not passed

Not a single Gore district councillor was prepared to put forward a vote of no confidence in 24-year-old mayor Ben Bell.

Despite the deputy mayor Keith Hovell and seven councillors signing a requisition calling for an extraordinary meeting be held on Tuesday to pass a vote of no confidence – no one wanted to move the motion.

Hovell had earlier said “the actions of the mayor in recent weeks had led to the difficult decision to request his resignation”.

Instead, Bell and councillors apologised to the community and each other for the turmoil of recent days, and voted to write to Local Government New Zealand and Taituara asking it to assist with the terms of reference for an independent review to renew confidence in the council.

The council voted for an independent review at last months’ council meeting after the relationship between Bell and chief executive Stephen Parry broke down.

In a move to restore trust with the public and amongst each other, elected members agreed at Tuesday’s meeting to put their differences aside and refocus on serving the people of the Gore district.

Councillor Robert McKenzie said he could ‘’see the potential to build a bloody good team to do a bloody good job.’’

Cr Richard McPhail said the council ‘’needed to act in best interests of the community, not themselves’’.

Cr Glenys Dickson said “Ben we are your allies. We are not your enemies. Our role now is to support you and the council to be best you can.'”

Bell told the meeting that the days after a call was made for him to resign last week, which he declined to do, were his darkest, but the support from the community had ‘’lifted him up”.

Cheers from the public gallery were heard when the motion was not passed.

After the meeting, one protester outside the council offices said the back track was ‘’embarrassing for Hovell’’ and said ‘’the power of the people won”.

Local Government NZ members addressed the ordinary council meeting later in the day and in response to a question from Cr Bronwyn Reid, said the cost of the independent review would be ‘’less than carrying on as you are”.

More than 150 people gathered outside the Gore District Council before the meetings were held, some carrying signs for the council’s chief executive Stephen Parry to resign, amid claims he has bullied former staff members.

McKenzie had yelled ‘’democracy will prevail’’ as he approached the building, to cheers from the crowd.

Clutha district mayor Brian Cadogan and Southland district mayor Rob Scott also attended in support for Bell.

Cadogan said they had both worked with Bell for the last six months and were there to support him.

The council had employed security guards to let people into the building.

An online petition calling for chief executive Parry’s resignation had reached more than 4000 signatures on Tuesday morning.

Parry did not attend the meetings because he is on compassionate leave and due to fly to Wellington on Tuesday to be with his mother-in-law, who is gravely ill.

The meeting comes after a torrid six months in Gore’s political history.

On April 19, Gore district councillors voted unanimously for an independent review into council governance, after the working relationship between Parry and Bell broke down and it was revealed they were no longer speaking.

After that council meeting, Parry said his relationship with Bell, in his view was ‘’irreparable’’.

Stuff has requested interviews with Bell, councillors and acting CEO Rex Capil after the meeting, but was told late on Tuesday morning that they would not be available, and the council would be issuing a statement at some stage of the day.

The statement, released just before 4pm, says “Gore District Mayor Ben Bell and councillors today apologised to the community and each other for the turmoil of recent days.

“In a move to restore trust with the public and amongst each other, elected members have agreed to put their differences aside and refocus on serving the people of the Gore District.

In a joint statement, the elected members said they reunited following an in-depth, transparent, and honest conversation yesterday.

“We have agreed that we all need to communicate more openly and effectively so there are no further misunderstandings that could lead to an irreparable breakdown in trust.”

Given the Councillors’ desire to move forward, it was unanimously agreed not to proceed with the resolutions of a vote of no confidence and the request to remove the Mayor from all Council committees, sub-committees and joint committees.

“The issues relating to the mayor and chief xecutive relationship were separate and would be addressed through mediation and an independent review.

“The council resolved that to protect the integrity of the mediation process and the independent review, it will be making no further comment on this topic until both processes are completed.”