No-confidence vote looms

board chair, said Barry had the skills required to complete the transaction which Mitchell described as “critical [...] in the survival and long-term viability of the CAPA business.”

The money coming from council was not used to pay Barry, but it is unclear where CAPA found the funds.

Barry – who, according to his Linkedin profile, worked in finance in the late 1980s and 90s before starting a successful gym, and fitness and education business – received $15,000 in October 2022, and the rest was payable only if the council deal went through.

Mitchell said the decision to pay Barry was unanimous amongst the board. He said Barry was excluded from voting on any matters regarding the council deal and his involvement was recorded on the board’s interest register. Sources close to the association questioned the fairness of the payment, considering the association struggled to pay many contractors for work they did on the 2023 Show and the possibility of insolvency.

Mitchell told The Press that Barry was paid last week, along with all other overdue creditors.

Steven Moe, a Christchurch-based lawyer and expert in charity law, said there was nothing wrong with a board member contracting their services to the same charity they govern, so long as there were checks.

In the case of CAPA, he said not only was it a good sign the board had an interests register, but the association’s constitution (which Mitchell said was under review) states board members are allowed to be paid for work which the association considers fair.

“Board members are the brain of the organisation ... sometimes a board member is the right person to do this [work] because they know the context of the organisation, the industry, the background,” he said.

He said it may have been more costly to use a third party, as they may have been less effective and less willing to do the work at a cheaper rate.

The Press spoke to three contractors on Wednesday, including Rob Swann of Peek Exhibition, who were paid this month for work done in November.

Swann has worked on the Show for 20-odd years, and although he was critical of how the 2022 and 2023 Shows were run, he was confident the association’s leadership had been “suitably embarrassed” and would learn from its mistakes.

“Maybe different checks and measures in place next time, to see what’s going on. A simple KPI [key performance indicators] of any business is staff turnover,” he said. Nearly a dozen employees have left since 2022.

Other contractors – who did tens of thousands of dollars worth of work for the 2023 Show – were more sceptical. A number said there may be an expectation for money up front.

Sources close to the Show have said there was still hope the 2024 Show would be resurrected, but it could take a change in leadership – and grovelling to former workers – to happen.

From the Christchurch City Council’s perspective, the $5m deal ($4m of which was put into a protected investment fund, to generate interest for CAPA) was made to “provide a future” for the Show, as well as free up land for public use.

However, negotiations had been finalised before CAPA announced on April 17 it was canning the 2024 Show.

City councillor Sam MacDonald has not ruled out a 2024 Show but said it was for the board to make the decision. The new fund operational from June - would give the board more financial certainty.

Mitchell said the special meeting on May 9 may not follow CAPA’s rules and member representatives would be looking into it.

However, if it did go ahead, he said the board was confident they would be able to justify why the 2024 Show was axed and how it was in the best interests of the association.