The findings were initially expected to be presented to council at its meeting on Tuesday. However, those findings will now be made available to the audit and risk committee and full council in August to consider. Along with Thomson s review Impact Consulting is carrying out an online survey. In a report prepared by Governance Group project director Pete Thompson, it says “due to the timing of the survey results the subsequent report” has been delayed until August. The report for Tuesday’s meeting also provides a budget update for the “working on working together” project. The council had budgeted $310,000 for the financial year ending June 2021.
Invercargill mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt chairing a city council meeting. (File photo) He opted not to fight the decision because he was now outnumbered at the council and pointed to it as another example of the “lonely” position he was in, he said. At a weekly meeting on May 25, where chairmen and deputies of council committees meet, it was recommended that councillor Darren Ludlow will vote on remits at the conference on behalf of the council. It is not apparent why Ludlow was recommended ahead of the mayor from the in-committee meeting that was held. It was also agreed that Alex Crackett would be the alternate delegate if Ludlow was absent for whatever reason.
The report says progress in implementing the recommendations of the independent review continues “at a steady pace”. Thompson also outlines the project costs were forecast to remain within that $310,000 budget for the 2020-2021 financial year. “Similarly the proposed budget for 2021/22 falls within the $420,000 that council has previously signed off.” Included in the cost is the work of two independent appointees, Jeff Grant and Lindsay McKenzie. There has been $120,000 budgeted to cover external appointee costs for July 2021 through to June 2022. Grant and McKenzie report to council’s risk and assurance committee with their updates on a quarterly basis. Speaking following the end of the long-term plan deliberations on Tuesday, Grant praised the way the council had worked through the long-term plan process.
“When matters arise I will talk to matters when I think I should, Abbott said.
Robyn Edie/Stuff Clark went as far as suggesting the protocols bordered on a gagging order. “We have the right to be quite open and democratic about what we do and to be a minority voice if need be,” the deputy mayor said. He felt the wording of the protocols meant if he spoke out publicly against a majority decision in the future it could open him up for a Code of Conduct complaint. The media protocols have stemmed from an independent report into the council’s governance which was put together by Richard Thompson.
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