Councillors ask Ben Bell to resign as Gore mayor

Thursday, 11 May 2023

• Councillors met with Gore Mayor Ben Bell on Wednesday asking him to resign

• Bell, who declined the request, has not been reached for comment

• At 23, Bell is New Zealand’s youngest mayor

Seven of the 10 Gore councillors have asked Gore District Mayor Ben Bell to resign.

A statement released by the council on Thursday says deputy mayor Keith Hovell and intermediary Cr Richard McPhail met with Bell on Wednesday and asked him to resign.

Councillors Stewart MacDonell, Neville Phillips, Glenys Dickson, Paul McPhail and Bronwyn Reid supported the resignation request.

In the statement, Hovell said the actions of the mayor in recent weeks had led to the difficult decision to request his resignation.

The reasons for the request were that the majority of councillors had lost confidence in the mayor and had lost trust in the mayor acting in the best interests of the community and council as a whole.

It says Bell declined the request.

In a statement, Bell called the move by the councillors “disappointing”.

“I am still uncertain as to why this step has been taken during this time. Despite this, I am hopeful the council can communicate effectively and work through this,” he said.

“I am very mindful of the impact this is having on the community and wish reassure the Gore District that I remain committed to undertaking the role I was elected to do.”

Bell said he would not be commenting further.

Councillor John Gardyne said was approached to sign the call for Bell’s resignation, but refused as he believed decisions such as this should be made at council meetings.

“I didn’t sign it because it needs debate at the meetings in open public, then you make a decision at council you don’t make a decision before council.

“I want to hear the debate, that’s what council’s about, making decisions at council not outside of council, that’s my reason for not signing it.”

Other councillors who had not supported the request had been approached for comment.

In December, MacDonell resigned from the position of deputy mayor after seven councillors signed a requisition requesting he be removed from the position.

Those councillors were Richard McPhail, Reid, Dickson, Bret Highsted, Paul McPhail, Phillips and Joe Stringer.

Highsted, one of the most experienced councillors around the council table, having served five terms, resigned last month citing that since last year’s election, he had found the council environment “highly stressful and the levels of anxiety unsustainable”.

In the statement, Hovell said “in light of the mayor declining the request to resign, a requisition has been given to the chief executive calling for an extraordinary meeting, to be held next Tuesday before the council’s scheduled meeting.”

The requisition requests the council consider three resolutions.

The first is that the council writes to the Minister of Local Government requesting a meeting with council representatives.

The purpose of the meeting will be to talk about intervention measures available to assist the council to effectively govern and conduct its business as usual.

Hovell said councillors’ desired outcome was to preserve the democratic representation, with some support by the Crown.

“We are eager to continue to represent the interests of the wider community and the people we serve.”

The other resolutions are: That the council passes a vote of no confidence in the mayor, and the council removes the mayor from all committees, sub-committees and joint committees.

At the age of 23, Bell became the country’s youngest mayor, but it’s been a bumpy ride. Reflecting on his first six months in office last month, Bell described it as “turbulent”.

The Gore District Council had to move into damage control mode after confidential information was leaked from an in-committee meeting and the working relationship between Bell and council chief executive Stephen Parry broke down.

At a full council meeting last month the council voted to seek an independent review of governance issues and to appoint an intermediary to work between Parry and Bell.