Deputy mayor: stress is telling
INVERCARGILL’S deputy mayor says the stress and huge workload of his job have made him think about resigning, as recently as this week.
Nobby Clark said last year was one of the most stressful in his life and the increased workload and tensions with Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt had a huge effect on his wellbeing.
The Invercargill City Council released the Thomson sixmonth review report, prepared by Richard Thomson, on Monday.
The document said the council was in a better place than it was six months ago, but again raised issues about Sir Tim’s performance. It said Sir Tim was an ‘‘unavoidable and inconvenient distraction’’ and the rest of the council just had to ‘‘get on and make things work’’.
Much of the positive turnaround at council is attributed to the better relationship among elected members and to Cr Clark’s performance as deputy mayor, saying he has filled the leadership void highlighted in Mr Thomson’s original scathing review of the council’s performance.
However, Mr Thomson also raised concerns and noted a potential resignation of Mr Clark as a risk ‘‘given the increasingly difficult relationship which exists between him and Sir Tim’’.
Mr Thomson stated other councillors could step up to this role, should the risk eventuate.
However, it was unlikely that any of them would be people the mayor would want to appoint to the role, he said.
Cr Clark admitted to the Otago Daily Times yesterday he had thought about resigning more than once during the past year, and as recently as this week.
He often woke up in the middle of night, anxious about council issues and this was affecting his home life, he said.
When asked if the thought of resignation was still on his mind, he confirmed the idea was not completely excluded.
‘‘Yeah, I am. I don’t want to overplay that because I don’t want to destabilise the good work that has been done and where we are going now.
‘‘But I’m mindful that there has been not only a stress factor for myself, but also for my partner [Karen Carter] who has to wear all my stress.’’
He said Ms Carter was really worried about him.
‘‘She is my scaffolding, she keeps me going. Without that or her, I can be a risky person.’’
Reasons for not resigning included the improvement in relationships around the council table, the cost of holding another byelection and him knowing he had work still to do.
He was proud Mr Thomson had recognised and acknowledged his efforts since the first report was issued.
‘‘He [Mr Thomson] was very critical of me on the first report. But I took on board his comments because, otherwise, it would implode everything. The tensions were already huge at the council.
‘‘I’ve done a lot of work around not to be confrontational, being more open to other people, which is not normally my style.’’
A lot of effort had been put in to building his relationship with council chief executive Clare Hadley.
‘‘So I’ve made a strong effort to do that and it has been a twosided coin because Clare has made the effort as well.’’
But while his relationship with Mrs Hadley had improved, the tension with Sir Tim had escalated.
Cr Clark said his relationship with Sir Tim was now a ‘‘poor one’’.
‘‘If I see him in the council, I would say hello to him and viceversa. Occasionally, he asks me something, but it is not a strong relationship at all.’’
The challenge now was to ensure council’s efforts in building relationships resulted in tangible outcomes for the city, he said.
He was still frustrated decisions had not been made about the Southland Museum and Art Gallery and Anderson House, he said.
‘‘The report is about chemistry and relationships. Chemistry is important [but] . . . it is only part of the jigsaw puzzle and now we need to sort the other pieces.’’
IT has been encouraging to read Richard Thomson, in his followup review of the Invercargill City Council, considers the council is in a ‘‘vastly better space’’ than it was at the time of his initial review six months ago.
Although there was more to be done, governance and management should be pleased about the progress, and the work of the council was being successfully done, he said.
New members of the executive leadership team appear to have brought a breath of fresh air into council management, regional relationships have improved, councillors have reflected on their behaviour and are generally behaving more collegially and have benefitted from input from the two external appointees assisting the council.
Mr Thomson, who had previously been critical of deputy Nobby Clark, said he had stepped up significantly to fill the leadership void, developing a collegial working relationship with the chief executive. There were still some concerns about Mr Clark’s ability to encourage and enable discussion of an issue without initially promoting his own point of view.
However, the review also noted Mr Clark’s relationship with Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt has deteriorated, with a frustrated Mr Clark increasingly speaking out when he disagrees with public statements made by the mayor.
Mr Thomson sees an increased risk that councillors may not agree with Mr Clark’s approach on this which could lead to a resumption of internal discord or even Mr Clark deciding not to stay the course.
Should that happen, while there would be a number of councillors who could step up to the role, it was ‘‘unlikely that any of them would be someone that the mayor would wish to appoint to the role’’.
Although this is a hypothetical situation, it highlights the bizarre fragility of the governance leadership and the difficulties all face in trying to prop up the struggling mayor.
Mr Thomson acknowledges Sir Tim finds himself isolated in a ‘‘lonely and distressing place’’ and that ‘‘it is not difficult to feel considerable sadness for the position he is in’’.
Sir Tim says he is not being provided with appropriate support, but Mr Thomson found there was a significant gap between what Sir Tim sees as required and what he could realistically use. On the issue of the mayor’s claim of bullying, Mr
Thomson said he could not attest to the presence or absence of bullying behaviour ‘‘across the wider spectrum’’, but it did seem that the mayor’s own behaviour had ‘‘resulted in significant reduction in support for him by colleagues’’.
At the same time, Mr Thomson cautioned against responding to Sir Tim’s public statements in a way which could create the perception of ‘‘kicking someone when they are down’’.
Those interviewed by Mr Thomson were also of the strong view nothing had changed regarding their identified concerns regarding the mayor since the original report.
Understandably, Mr Thomson wishes the media would focus on the good things the council is doing, but it is difficult to see Sir Tim, whose life has been spent in the limelight, suddenly becoming hermitlike, even if now that might be in his best interest and that of the council.
It remains to be seen whether councillors will be able to put on a collective brave face, providing the crutches for a noisy and divisive lame duck mayor for the 13 months to the next council elections.
We do not see that as a realistic or reasonable expectation. Our view remains that Sir Tim should resign before he does any more damage to his fine legacy.