Gore mayor Ben Bell says he felt like 'a council of one', CEO Steve Parry says their relationship is 'irreparable'

Friday, 21 April 2023

The working relationship between Gore district mayor Ben Bell and council chief executive Stephen Parry has broken down.

Gore district mayor Ben Bell says he tried ‘’time and time again’’ to make his working relationship with council chief executive Stephen Parry work, but he had been ‘’sorely disappointed and hurt’’ and felt ‘’like a council of one”.

However, councillors have questioned whether Bell had stood for election with the intention of getting rid of Parry, who was involved in a lengthy employment dispute with Bell’s mother when she worked at the council.

They have also moved to protect Parry and try to resolve the issue because they employ him.

The minutes of an extraordinary in-committee council meeting to discuss the working relationship between Bell and Parry, which has broken down after just six months, have been released under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.

* Ben Bell opens up about 'turbulent' time as Gore mayor

* The aftermath of the Gore District Council meeting leak - independent review sought

Information from the meeting was leaked to the media last month, which led to the council voting to seek an independent review of its governance at a council meeting this week.

At the extraordinary meeting, both Bell and Parry were invited to address councillors and then answer questions while the other was not in the room.

Gore mayor Ben Bell speaks to the media after the council voted unanimously for an independent review. (File video)

Bell provided a timeline of the breakdown of the relationship, detailing how he sought advice from Local Government New Zealand and had entered into mediation with the CEO, which had not been resolved.

He said it had been ‘’exhausting” and he felt he had done absolutely everything in his power to try to fix the relationship.

“While I understand that there are always personalities involved and that people communicate differently, | have tried my utmost to be patient and professional. In this regard, I have been sorely disappointed and hurt.

“I have tried time and time again to make this work and seem to be constantly finding myself in this position of sleepless nights and feeling like a council of one.”

Gore district council chief executive Steve Parry speaks to the media after council votes unanimously for an independent review. [File video]

Bell left the meeting before questions could be asked, saying it was ‘’fundamental for a council to have a good relationship between the chief executive and mayor’’, and he would leave it to the council to discuss.

Councillors were ‘’disappointed’’ that Bell had left the meeting and questioned how they could resolve the issue if they could not ask questions.

Councillor Bronwyn Reid said Bell needed to ‘’step up’’ while Cr Bret Highsted, who has since resigned, said his concern was the chief executive, and the council was his [the CEO’s] employer. The council faced significant risk if it got it wrong, he said.

Parry then addressed the meeting and said the period between October and December had been ‘’truly dreadful,” and he had ‘’been shut out and excluded from many decisions and then constantly being taken by surprise”.

He also discussed his version of events around the mediation process.

Gore District councillor Bret Highsted has resigned since the in-committee meeting. (File photo)

He was frustrated at not being asked for advice by the mayor, and said the relationship had ‘’broken down and in his view was irreparable”.

Councillors discussed how to remedy the situation after Bell and Parry had both left the room.

An intermediary will now act between Bell and Parry while an independent review of the council takes place.

Cr Neville Phillips referred to a comment made by a local businessman to the mayor about the chief executive. Bell apparently replied “don’t worry about that and he’ll be gone before I go”, the minutes say.

Phillips said that was a conflict of interest, and the mayor had an intention to remove the chief executive. Gore deputy mayor Keith Hovell said a similar comment had been made during the election process.

Cr Highsted suggested the council, as the employer, should ask that the mayor in particular, behaves in a manner that enshrines the obligations to be a good employer under the Local Government Act.

Councillors decided not to put that to a formal recommendation, but decided to appoint the intermediary. All councillors except Cr MacKenzie voted to remove Bell from the appraisal committee.

Cr Glenys Dickson said Bell was not acting as part of the council and ‘’he needed to clearly understand the council was not putting up with it”.

The minutes say Parry had sought legal advice before the mediation process began. Bell did not have the delegation to approve the payment for legal fees, and it had to be approved by the council.

At the meeting the council resolved to pay the invoice, but not before Cr MacKenzie said the council had a very intelligent and capable man in the chief executive. He understood the council had paid for him [Parry] to achieve a law degree. He thought he should be able to advise himself on legal matters. He was no fool, he said.

The minutes show a spat also developed when Bell requested information from the CEO’s personnel file to enable the Chief Executive Appraisal Committee to become more familiar with the normal process undertaking and conducting the appraisal. He was provided with that information, but the minutes show councillors discussed that Bell also sought more information about a review from four years ago which had lead to a council restructure.

Parry referred to Bell as being caught with “his hands in the procedure till” and said Bell had tried to short change him. He would not put up with it, he said.

The council is now seeking legal advice on whether Bell can be removed from the Chief Executives Appraisal Committee, and it is formulating the terms of reference for the independent review.