Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt left for Norway yesterday,
leaving behind a council deeply divided over his attempts to
replace his deputy.
Before his departure for Norway to research the oil industry,
Mr Shadbolt confirmed he had called a special council meeting
for December 7, following a thwarted attempt to dump deputy
mayor Neil Boniface at a council meeting last week.
Mr Shadbolt said, after one-on-one meetings with his council
this week, it was clear councillors wanted "extensive
changes".
Those changes are likely to include more than just the deputy
mayor's position.
Mr Shadbolt claims the deputy mayor took three days to inform
him the chief executive Richard King had been charged for
drink-driving.
Cr Geoff Piercy (79), who is serving his last year on
council, is in the mayor's firing line following his
last-minute decision to turn down an offer to replace Cr
Boniface as deputy mayor.
A councillor, who did not want to be named, said Mr Shadbolt
wanted to take chairmanships and directorships from Cr Piercy
and Cr Boniface and had already sounded out replacements.
Cr Boniface told the Otago Daily Times he remained unsure why
Mr Shadbolt was trying to remove him, despite mediation.
Cr Boniface said he believed he had the support of most "but
not all" the councillors.
"We will have to wait and see."
hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz
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