Councillor calls for Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark to resign

Thursday, 20 June 2024

An Invercargill city councillor has called on mayor Nobby Clark to resign in the wake of his behaviour at a firefighters’ event in March, and another has described his actions as hugely disappointing.

The United Fire Brigades Association claimed Clark, who was a guest of honour at its Firefighter Challenge dinner in Invercargill on March 16, expressed “disturbing and offensive views” while mocking and embarrassing guests.

An independent investigation found Clark’s actions were in breach of the council’s code of conduct, and an extraordinary council meeting has been called for Friday, where elected members will consider whether action should be taken against the mayor.

On Wednesday, councillor Ian Pottinger said Clark had made a “catastrophic breach of council’s core moral values”, and lowered the reputation of the city.

“This is at a level where I believe the mayor, under the circumstances, should resign. That’s what I think.”

The behaviour of elected members was important, he said.

“We are supposed to be promoting the council and keeping up the reputation of the city.”

Pottinger said people would see his own views as tainted, given he and councillor Ria Bond had already lodged a separate code of conduct complaint against Clark on a separate matter.

But he said the latest code of conduct complaint was “much more serious” than his and Bond’s complaint.

Clark’s sense of humour was “inappropriate”, Pottinger said.

“This is his style and it’s unacceptable.”

A mayor should be humble and respectful, he said.

Pottinger said every councillor needed to speak up at Friday’s meeting.

“There’s no hiding in the corners on this one.”

Clark, in a statement to the independent investigator Linda Clark, said there was a lot of banter on the night and he believed the statements made against him by the firefighters at the dinner were “overly harsh/critical”.

He had apologised to the United Fire Brigades Association, indicating his comments at the dinner could have been due to “brain fade”, as a result of being on a heart/lung machine during recent heart surgery.

Pottinger indicated he wasn’t buying that story.

“I think when you start making excuses you are digging a deeper hole.”

Councillor Steve Broad described Clark’s actions as hugely disappointing, saying the investigation report made for awful reading.

It was not a good look for the city or the mayor, whose position was one of privilege and honour, Broad said.

“I am not sure that honour has been upheld recently by our mayor.”

Clark’s behaviour followed a “pattern of events” in his capacity as mayor, Broad said.

“It was awful watching a documentary with a New Zealand comedian, inside the mayoral office, where there was baiting around a certain [N] word, so for me it’s around the pattern, not just one incident.”

Broad said if he was in Clark’s position, he would be questioning if he was honouring the job and whether it was appropriate to remain in the position.

Cr Trish Boyle, when asked her views on Clark’s behaviour as outlined in the report, said public figures were in a vulnerable position and comments could be picked up the wrong way.

She said Clark had been vulnerable health-wise and questioned if he had returned to work too soon after his open heart surgery, adding he had been “under the pump”.

“I don’t agree with some of the things he says in public, I think they were probably mismanaged, but I understand how it could possibly have happened.”

She added that the council was working hard as a group and making progress on things, and the code of conduct complaint against Clark would be addressed.

“We will follow the process.”

Cr Barry Stewart said he would not comment publicly until he had had a decent chat to Clark.

Cr Peter Kett said code of conduct complaints had been coming “thick and fast” at the council in recent years and they were costing ratepayers too much money.

“I am sick of these code of conduct things.”

The jury was out on Clark until the Friday meeting “and we are the jury”, Kett said.

Deputy mayor Tom Campbell said he was chairing the Friday meeting because Clark, as the subject of the complaint, could not.

As the chairperson, he said he was unable to say anything ahead of the meeting.

Cr Ria Bond declined to comment given she [and Pottinger] had lodged a separate code of conduct complaint against Clark about the Guy Williams interview.

Grant Dermody declined to comment, while councillors Lesley Soper, Alex Crackett, Allan Arnold and Darren Ludlow either did not respond to requests for comment or could not be reached.

Mayor Clark said he would not be commenting ahead of Friday’s meeting.

According to the council’s code of conduct document, penalty options available for the councillors at the meeting included an invitation to the elected member (Clark in this case) to consider resigning from the council, a letter of censure, a vote of no confidence, the removal of certain council-funded privileges, restricted entry to council offices, suspension or removal from committees, and a request for an apology (Clark had already apologised).

The council had the option of deciding a penalty would not be imposed if the respondent (Clark in this case) agreed to certain things, including attending a relevant training course or working with a mentor for a period of time.