Protesters gather in Gore as Parry's interim position as CEO discussed behind closed doors

Tuesday, 24 October 2023

Gore District Citizen Action group spokesperson Jack McIntyre talks about Protest outside Gore District Council on Tuesday afternoon

Gore district councillors ran the gauntlet of a small group of protesters as they walked into a meeting to discuss the interim appointment of controversial chief executive Stephen Parry on Tuesday.

The protesters yelled ‘’vote no’’ to some councillors as they walked into the building, where safety barriers had been erected around the front door and senior council staff acted as security.

Cr Glenys Dickson waved to the protesters, Cr Bronwyn Reid did not acknowledge them, and councillor John Gardyne said he didn’t have anything to say about them.

While councillors were urged to ‘’vote no’’ – the deal was already done.

A fortnight ago, the council voted nine to three to offer Parry the role while it looked for a new chief executive. He resigned last month and was due to finish at the end of this month.

Protester Karen Broome said it was ‘’unbelievable’’ that councillors would vote to retain Parry, who had been accused of bullying staff members and had a public falling out with new mayor Ben Bell.

A small group of protesters met outside the Gore District Council offices on Tuesday afternoon to voice their disappointment that Stephen Parry was being employed as the council’s interim chief executive until a replacement can be found.

Former councillor Sally McIntyre said the council had other options for the interim position and someone else could have stepped in for six months.

She said councillors were not working for the good of the district and seemed to have their own agenda.

A council spokesperson said the extraordinary meeting, which was held with the public excluded, was a continuation of working through the process of appointing Parry in the interim position.

Parry was not at the meeting as it opened in the council chamber. Councillor Robert McKenzie was also not there, and mayor Ben Bell had not joined by Zoom before the council went into committee.

Stephen Parry is staying on as interim chief executive at the Gore District Council until his replacement is found.

A petition calling for Parry to not be employed in the interim position is being circulated by the newly-formed Gore District Citizen Action Group.

Earlier in the day, a council spokesperson said acting mayor Keith Hovell had called petition organiser Hayden McIntyre, who was a member of the group, to invite him to meet one-on-one before the meeting.

McIntyre was not at the protest, and instead Hovell met with Jack McIntyre, who was a spokesperson for the group.

Gore district councillors met behind closed doors at a meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

McIntyre said he didn’t get many answers from Hovell when they met.

“They are saying that they need someone like him [Parry] or Rex Capil to stay on in the position.’’

He believed that Parry needed to leave, and that the council was not being transparent.

Parry agreed to stay after deputy chief executive Rex Capil, the likely candidate for interim chief executive, also resigned, and will finish on November 24.

The council have said the recruitment process was expected to stretch into the new year.

In a statement last week, Hovell said the decision to appoint Parry to the interim position was ‘’a business decision, nothing more, nothing less’’.

“We are a small council and do not have the resources to fill, at short notice, the significant gaps that the departure of the chief executive and deputy chief executive would leave.”