The Invercargill City Council seems to have appointed an independent investigator to deal with the allegations of a mysterious letter received by councillors.
Another closed door meeting was held on Monday with elected members during an extraordinary Risk and Assurance Committee, which was not livestreamed as the items were discussed on a public-excluded session.
The agenda stated that one of the items was "Appointment of Investigator", and the reason to be discussed in private was to"protect the privacy of natural persons."
It followed two other public-excluded extraordinary meetings on March 7 and March 18.
Minutes of those meetings stated the reason for them was "to discuss the requisition and letter received by all councillors" and "discuss letter received", respectively — in both meetings, mayor Nobby Clark was not part of the discussions.
The Otago Daily Times understands one of items of the meeting this week was related to the letter received by councillors at the beginning of this month.
A source said councillors agreed to appointing an independent investigator to have a look into the allegations made in the letter, which were related to an employment issue.
Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark yesterday declined to comment on the reasons for the meeting and the investigation.
"I can’t answer or comment on none of those things."
A council spokeswoman confirmed last week chief executive Michael Day had been on leave since March 18, and council community engagement and corporate services manager Trudie Hurst had been appointed acting chief executive.
It was understood he was expected to return to work in mid-April.
Both the council communications team and Mr Clark refused to comment on the reasons for his leave.
