'Very strained' relationship between Gore mayor and council chief executive sinks to new low

Thursday, 30 March 2023

Gore district mayor Ben Bell and council chief executive Stephen Parry entered mediation in December, but will now complete council business through an intermediary. (File photo)

The working relationship between Gore district mayor Ben Bell and council chief executive Stephen Parry is so bad that the pair will no longer meet, and another councillor will be appointed as a “dedicated intermediary”.

Councillors met at an extraordinary meeting, held in committee on Tuesday, to discuss the issue.

Speaking on Thursday, Parry said the working relationship between the pair was ‘’very strained,’’ but he would not say why.

“We have met regularly weekly since the beginning of the working year,’’ Parry said.

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When asked whether those meetings would continue, he said ‘’no”.

He would not comment on the outcomes of the meeting because it had been held in-committee, and he would not break confidentiality.

Bell, who was in Wellington for a Local Government NZ Young Elected Members hui, said his relationship with Parry was ‘’a work in progress’’.

Gore district Deputy Mayor Cr Keith Hovell is one of seven councillors who have called on the mayor to resign. (File photo)

“I wasn’t involved in the meeting, I was only there for a short amount of time,’’ he said.

One of the outcomes of the meeting was that a councillor would be present as an intermediary if the two had to meet, he said.

He confirmed he and Parry had entered into mediation before Christmas, but it ‘’wasn’t closed up”.

Stuff catches up with New Zealand's youngest mayor, Ben Bell, who lives in Gore.

“There was no formal agreement.

“I’ve tried my hardest to make it work, and it’s now in the lawyer’s hands to make sure the council is still functioning as it should.’’

Deputy mayor Keith Hovell chaired the extraordinary meeting.

“The council has put in place some provisions and processes to ensure that it functions efficiently and effectively,’’ he said.

When asked if it wasn’t working efficiently and effectively before the meeting, he said: “It would probably get a pass mark, but we have enhanced it.”

He would not make any further comment about the meeting because he did not want to breach confidentiality.

In response to further questions from Stuff, Hovell and the council’s general manager community lifestyle services Rex Capil said the purpose of the meeting was to provide councillors with an update from the Chief Executive Appraisal Committee.

The extraordinary meeting was called by Bell, and both the mayor and chief executive were given the opportunity to address the meeting and answer questions from councillors separately.

The meeting unanimously passed the resolution, “That as the employer of the chief executive, the council note the breakdown in the relationship between the mayor and the chief executive and agree to nominate and appoint an elected member (not the mayor) to act as a dedicated intermediary between the mayor and chief executive for governance and relevant operational matters”.

The resolution also included, “That the dedicated elected member provide formal, bi-monthly written updates to be placed on the council agenda, and that Terms of Reference and delegations for the designated elected member be drafted and presented for consideration and adoption at the April council meeting”.

It also voted in favour of a second resolution that “Terms of Reference be drafted for the Chief Executive Appraisal Committee for consideration and adoption at the April council meeting”. The mayor would be removed from that committee and Crs Keith Hovell, Richard McPhail, John Gardyne and Bronwyn Reid would be appointed to the committee.

A third resolution, “that in respect of the mediation and/or facilitated meeting held on December 19, 2022, the Council note that this process is incomplete and therefore has not been concluded”, was also passed unanimously. Two other parts of the resolution were withheld.

Tuesday’s meeting follows concerns from the Gore District Council’s senior management team who in November said, Bell’s behaviour was “taking a toll on staff’s mental well-being and health”.

Documents given to Stuff show the council’s senior management team, which includes Parry, wrote to Bell on November 18 expressing concerns about his unwillingness to engage with staff, his misrepresenting of situations, a sense of staff being set up to fail, and the putting of the council and staff’s reputation at risk.

Bell became New Zealand’s youngest ever mayor at the local body elections in October, unseating former long-serving mayor Tracy Hicks.