Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt has claimed a minor victory
in an ongoing stoush with several councillors.
As he prepared to board a plane for the first leg of a
fact-finding trip to Norway today, Mr Shadbolt told NZPA he
had the support of enough city councillors to call a special
meeting next month to thrash out the issues.
"A majority of councillors have agreed. Now what I have to do
is give 21 days' notice."
The meeting follows Mr Shadbolt's failed attempt to oust long
serving deputy mayor Neil Boniface at a council meeting last
week.
The mayor said he had lost confidence in his deputy and
wanted to replace him with Councillor Geoff Piercy through to
local government elections next year.
Central to the mayor's concerns was the fact Mr Boniface had
failed to inform him when, in August, council chief executive
Richard King was charged with drink-driving and careless
driving.
Mr King admitted in court last month he had been drinking in
his council office before he drove his car into the path of
an oncoming vehicle.
The deal to get rid of Mr Boniface had already been done
behind closed doors but, when Mr Shadbolt moved to formalise
it at the meeting, Mr Piercy changed his mind and refused to
accept the role of deputy.
It prompted an angry outburst from the mayor and brought the
spat into the glare of public scrutiny.
Mr Shadbolt and Mr Boniface this week attempted mediation
with the help of Gore District Council Mayor Tracy Hicks but,
instead of resolving the issue, Mr Shadbolt's beef with his
council seems to have broadened.
He confirmed today that, after a series of one-on-one talks
with councillors, he had more people lined up for the chop.
"What surprised me is that they told me `it's not just you
and the deputy mayor, we need a cabinet reshuffle'."
Mr Shadbolt said he wanted to take chairmanships and
committee appointments off some councillors and award them to
others.
"Neil (Boniface) and Geoff (Piercy) are on $108,000 a year. A
lot of the jobs go to a few.
"I am part of the old-boys network in a sense but I would
like to see changes."
He said the special meeting, proposed for December 7, would
be the old guard versus the new guard.
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