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."
