Clark: I’ll be less of an activist
Sir Tim Shadbolt’s new deputy mayor, Nobby Clark, says he will change his style in the wake of a damning report about the Invercargill City Council.
Both men copped criticism in the independent report written by Richard Thomson.
It said Shadbolt was struggling to fulfil significant aspects of his role and that Clark was said to have been aggressive and rude to council staff during his first term as a councillor.
Though Shadbolt had publicly rubbished the report, Clark said he planned to be ‘‘more engaging [and] less of an activist’’ on the council in future.
The report said Clark was both capable and polarising and his approach to his role had earned the ire of many of his colleagues. Clark said he did not challenge the wording of Thomson’s report.
When councillors adopted the report, he said they should remove him from the deputy role if they did not feel comfortable with him in the position.
‘‘I put that on the table and nobody moved the motion.’’
He got a ‘‘level of support’’ from councillors at the meeting but it wasn’t unanimous, he added.
‘‘Some didn’t say too much and I know they are still a little bit uneasy . . . But that’s OK. That’s democracy – I don’t expect everybody to be in love with me.’’
Clark saw a way forward for the council. And he would change his style, he said. ‘‘I have said to them I will be more engaging, less of an activist.’’
But he stressed he still had a right to advocate for things and would be a strong voice in favour of reopening the museum, including if it needed to be restrengthened. He confirmed councillors had suggested he was too abrupt, bordering on being rude to council staff.
But he was ‘‘quite clear’’ he had a right to ask questions and if he didn’t get a satisfactory answer he would keep asking questions.
‘‘If others feel uncomfortable about that because that’s not normally the way they do it, so be it.’’
The report said there was no working relationship between Shadbolt and council chief executive Clare Hadley and Clark’s appointment as deputy may risk destabilising this further.