Gore U-turn: One of New Zealand's more remarkable political 180s

The saga went from the majority of councillors saying they had lost trust in the mayor to the council releasing a press statement titled “Council unites” all in a few days.

An extraordinary Gore District Council meeting on Tuesday where a vote of no confidence was supposed to take place but did not happen.

ANALYSIS: It feels like the saying, “a week is a long-time in politics”, is often overused.

Although if that line is ever deserving of being attached to something the Gore District Council drama sits at the top of the queue.

In fact, Gore needed just six days for a political flip-flop.

New Zealand witnessed one of the more remarkable political 180s in Gore on Tuesday.

Just six days earlier deputy mayor Keith Hovell and fellow councillor Richard McPhail fronted Mayor Ben Bell and asked him to resign.

That resignation request also had the backing of five other councillors.

After Bell declined that request, that group of councillors went public with their concerns.

They stated that they had lost trust in Bell and did not believe he was acting in the best interest of both the council and the Gore district.

They stated that the actions of Bell in recent weeks were the reason behind the request for Bell to resign.

The “actions” that those councillors allude to still remain unknown.

Four days after making the cutting public statements the council met for an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday.

That was where a planned vote of no confidence in Bell was expected to take place, as well as a resolution to remove him from all council committees.

There was no vote of confidence though.

The saga went from the majority of councillors saying they had lost trust in the mayor to the council releasing a press statement titled “Council unites” all in a few days.

“We have agreed that we all need to communicate more openly and effectively so there are no further misunderstandings that could lead to an irreparable breakdown in trust,” the joint council statement says.

Hovell, who last week fronted Bell asking for him to resign, stated at Tuesday’s meeting that the elected members had considered advice from different people in recent days.

A new resolution was put forward and the planned vote of no confidence in Bell didn’t receive any support.

Anyone involved is at risk of whiplash given the sudden shift in direction.

Cr Glenys Dickson supported asking Bell to resign but says it was more a cry for help.

“Ben we are your allies. We are not your enemies. Our role now is to support you and the council to be best you can,” she told Bell at the meeting.

It seems those who requested Bell’s resignation last Wednesday probably underestimated the national attention it would get, and more importantly, the wave of public support that has headed 24-year-old Bell’s way.

As the days progressed more and more seemed to publicly back Bell, including New Zealand’s Young Elected Members group.

The pressure switched from Bell to those councillors who wanted him gone. Bell won the PR battle, whether he was attempting to do so or not.

Bell alluded to that pressure shift when he addressed the situation at Tuesday’s meeting.

“Getting the request to resign was probably two of the darkest days of my life, it was incredibly hard, it was incredibly stressful.

“But following that, the immense pressure from the community and the voice helped lift me up. But inconsequently pushed all of the councillors down and I believe they had some of the hardest days of their lives I would imagine.”

The support Bell garnered through this mess was evident at Tuesday’s meeting via the cheers that sounded out when the vote of no confidence didn’t gain any traction.

There was a sense of unity pitched at and after the meeting.

Cr Robert McKenzie suggested they had the potential to be a “bloody good team of people to do a bloody good job.”

Bell agreed with Cr McKenzie saying; “There is real potential to come together, to reunite, and to find a way forward. And what a redemption story it will be.”

It’s the sort of talk in Gore that many have been crying out since tensions around the table become obvious.

But without wanting to be the party spoiler, can you really go from publicly declaring a lack of trust in the mayor to happy families in the space of just six days?

Also, if the Mayor and CEO are still not speaking how can we believe this will

Clutha District Mayor Bryan Cadogan attended Tuesday’s meeting, along with Southland District Mayor Rob Scott, in support of Bell.

It seems Cadogan isn’t sold that everything is now all good after Tuesday’s meeting.

“It still leaves a lot of questions unanswered,” Cadogan told Newstalk ZB.

“While I’m thankful for democracy and for Ben that they did pull back, in the cold light of day where do they go from here when there is that scrutiny that was on [on Tuesday, where does it go?

“I don’t think we are out of the woods yet but at least it wasn’t as bad of day for Ben as it could have Ben.”

“This isn’t over by any means, accusations are still there unanswered,” in the Newstalk ZB interview.

“And also, I have concerns that the most important relationship on any council is the relationship between the mayor and the CEO, and Ben, being a very conciliatory young man has waved his rights to be on the group that appoints and oversees [the CEO], it’s a fragile place to be.”

“I’ve had an hour or so to sit and think about and is this the end of it? It better be.”

What was decided at Tuesday’s meeting is the council to write to Local Government New Zealand and Taituara asking it to assist with the terms of reference for an independent review to renew confidence in the Council.

The issues relating to the Mayor and CEO Stephen Parry’s relationship were separate and would be addressed through mediation and an independent review, the council says in the joint statement.

Parry has previously stated that the relationship is irreparable.

How that is going now work close to eight months into a three-year term remains the big question.

Parry is currently on leave and missed Tuesday’s meeting, with Rex Capil filling in as the acting CEO for the moment.

Capil, Bell, and the councillors declined interviews after the meeting leaving it with the joint statement that was sent out.

“The council resolved that to protect the integrity of the mediation process and the independent review, it will be making no further comment on this topic until both processes are completed.”