In an extraordinary move, the nine councillors of the South Wairarapa District Council took out full page adverts in their local newspapers reassuring the community that they are continuing with the work of safeguarding the interests of their region. This follows a unanimous vote of no confidence of the councillors in October last year. What has been going on?
After the no confidence vote, the mayor pointed out that the vote has no legal effect; he is elected by the community so the councillors have no power to demand his resignation. “I haven’t contemplated resigning. You’ll be the first to know if I do, I promise” he said.
The Council has been in trouble for some time. In May last year the then chief executive departed suddenly, with a confidential legal settlement in which he is understood to have been paid out about $80,000 in notice.
There was a code of conduct complaint made against the mayor over his public criticism of officials. At the small council a significant number of staff have left.
After the Christmas period the council held an extraordinary meeting in February and the council approved a request from the mayor for a two month leave of absence to allow him to focus on wellbeing issues. Under the protocols of the Local Government Act the Deputy Mayor Melissa Sadler-Futter assumed full delegation to act as mayor for the duration of Mr Connelly’s absence.
In speaking of his health issues, the mayor said that he had two failed operations last year and a successful one earlier this year. "There is no doubt that for a sizeable chunk of last year, I was not fit enough to do everything that I was expected to do or would have liked to have done," he said. Now, he felt "vastly healthier than what I have done probably for two or three years".
Yet at the end of April, a further extraordinary meeting was held the day before the mayor was scheduled to return from his leave of absence. This time the councillors voted to remove the mayor from a number of forums, groups, and committees.
The mayor said he was surprised by the action, and that despite a lack of support from the council he had no intention of stepping down “I intend to carry on doing what I have been doing.”
The councillors disputed the mayor’s claim that he was unaware of the review of committee appointments saying that an independent advisor had told the mayor about the council’s intended action before the meeting.
It is understood that the parties have over the preceding months engaged in mediation and facilitation, and that Local Government NZ has been working with the parties.
The council finds itself in an extraordinary situation. All the councillors have voted unanimously that they have no confidence in the mayor. The mayor and the councillors are all elected by the community.
Trust and confidence is often at the core of relationships. It is considered an essential part of an employment relationship. When either an employer or an employee expresses that they no longer have confidence in the other then inevitably the employment relationship ends.
If a Board of a company expresses that its trust and confidence has been lost in its Chief Executive, it is inevitable that the Chief Executive’s employment would be terminated for cause, or would otherwise be “exited” from the company.
If the District Council was a company and all the Board members had voted that they had no confidence in the Chairperson, it seems inconceivable that the Chair would not resign. In that unlikely event, the directors would request that the shareholders hold a shareholders meeting to remove the Chair and appoint a new Chair.
Where to for the South Wairarapa District Council? The Local Government Act provides that the role of a mayor is to provide leadership to the other members of the territorial authority and the people in the district of the territorial authority. As matters stand, clearly the mayor cannot provide this given that the councillors have unanimously and publicly said that they have no confidence in him. Given that the councillors cannot “fire” the mayor, should the mayor resign? The alternative appears to be that the community will have to pay a lame duck mayor for the rest of his term. Read more.....