Invercargill City Council critic Nobby Clark seeks election
Tuesday, 9 April 2019
One of the Invercargill City Council's harshest critics is running for council.
Invercargill Ratepayers Advocacy Group spokesperson Nobby Clark has confirmed he will seek election as a councillor in October.
Clark joined the ratepayers group in 2016 when it was formed after the election, in a bid to keep the councillors and mayor honest and to also seek transparency for the public.
Clark felt the group has had little impact which prompted his decision to run for council.
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He had emailed councillors throughout the past two and half years on certain issues but had little response from several councillors, he said.
'We haven't got anywhere. You need to be at the table.'
A major concern for Clark was that he believed the elected members lacked the financial knowledge needed, and as a result they had not asked the appropriate questions of council staff.
He pointed to the Don St property development, which had a budget blowout of $4.5m, as an example of when the right questions were not asked.
Clark said he had 30 years experience working in the social services sector, which included spending time in a senior financial role with the Child Youth and Family organisation.
He felt there should be more debate around the council table instead of 'working as a team', because debate was good for democracy.
He also believed there were too many decisions being made 'behind closed doors' and if he was elected he would push for more information to be made public.
Clark will continue in his role as the Invercargill Ratepayers Advocacy Group spokesperson in the lead up to the election. He also did not rule out maintaining close ties with the group if he was elected.
He declined to provide a number when asked how many members the Ratepayers Advocacy Group.
Clark joins former city council staffer Kari Grabber as people, outside of current councillors, who have confirmed they intended to run for the city council this year.
* If you plan to run at this year's local body elections let us know by emailing news@stl.co.nz