Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt left his fellow councillors shocked and momentarily speechless today when he condemned the findings of the council’s independent governance review report, saying it was “flawed” and he had been used as the “scape goat” for governance issues within council.

The report by council-appointed independent evaluator Richard Thomson was released to the public today.

It highlighted a range of governance issues at the Invercargill City Council but said the main issue was a “leadership void” within elected council, for which the mayor was held largely responsible.

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Mr Thomson said Sir Tim struggled to fulfill significant aspects of his role, which was “evidenced through interviews with councillors, and the Mayor himself, senior staff, review of the council meeting videos and documents, and an unprompted contact by three southern Mayors.”

One of the key recommendations is to appoint two independent active observers from December this year until June 2022, to guide the governance process, at an estimated cost of between $570,000 to $730,000. 

The governance observers will attend council meetings to guide councillors but will not have voting rights.

All elected members unanimously accepted the recommendations of the Thomson report on November 12 but today Sir Tim slammed Mr Thomson’s conclusions about his lack of leadership. 

He said he was capable of leading the council and must “set the record straight.”

“The report would have you believe that the dysfunction of this current council rests squarely on the shoulders of myself and my new deputy Nobby Clark.”

“I consider that the report is flawed and does not mention a single other councillor except for Cr [Ian] Pottinger in passing, as a contributor to ongoing conflict and jostling for power within council.”

Sir Tim criticises the Thomson report at today's media conference in Invercargill. Deputy mayor Nobby Clark is left. PHOTO: Lucy Henry

He referenced “battles” within the council that had “ranged internally over the past year.”

“I refuse to take the mantle of the convenient scapegoat just because it fits the recent portrayal of me by one council faction.

“The report to fails to identify the culture of one-upmanship with a group of councillors which constantly aim to score points against me and seek publicity for criticism against me.

“I am being accused of failing to bring the council together, but the simple truth is you can’t lead people who refuse to be led,” he said.

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The meeting had started with positive comments from the chief executive Clare Hadley about councillors being keen to work together as a team. 

She had referenced the councillors’ unanimous vote to accept the report’s recommendations, despite its challenging issues.

As the mayor read his statement, some councillors appeared shocked and stony-faced. 

After the meeting, Cr Darren Ludlow said he was surprised and disappointed at the mayor’s remarks but said it was still possible to move forward as a team.

“I am a little surprised….the council unanimously received the report and accepted the findings of the report and you’ve got twelve people that are really keen to move forward… the mayor can say what he wants.”

He added he was impressed with how deputy mayor Nobby Clark had accepted criticism in the report and said Cr Clark had given councillors his word he was going to try to work with them.

Cr Lesley Soper said the councillors were surprised at the mayor’s comments but it was not appropriate for them to make further comment yet, given the significance of what he had just said. 

The Thomson report is the result of a review requested the Department of Internal Affairs in August this year, after various media reports about tensions in the council.

The DIA requested – among other things – a independent evaluation of the current standard of governance performance of elected representatives and a clear plan on how the council planned to fix the issues raised. 

Mr Thomson said he didn’t pull any punches when writing his review report as this would not ultimately benefit the city.

He also said three southern mayors contacted him with concerns about the lack of leadership at the Invercargill City Council but didn't release their names.

Mr Thomson’s report contained 11 recommendations and an action plan to be carried out by the council over the next six to 18 months.

The over-arching aim was to encourage the councillors to work together, rebuild trust and develop a shared culture.

Mr Thomson said the key point was the “leadership void’’ in the council.

He noted some people had “compassionately” tried to hide it out of respect for Sir Tim’s reputation and mana.

However, there was a noticeable absence of a working relationship between the mayor and the chief executive, who had become too heavily involved in governance, Mr Thomson said.

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Mr Thomson concluded the chief executive was working in a “very difficult and essentially unsafe environment”. 

He outlined several issues regarding the way the chief executive carried out her role but said the chief executive was not the problem and her potential loss to the council would be “very damaging” for the city.

He also outlined several issues relating to Cr Clark’s appointment to deputy mayor and the way he conducted himself when questioning staff, but concluded despite Cr Clark’s “polarising” behaviour, he was motivated “from the heart”.

It was the leadership void that was the “significant deficit,” Mr Thomson said.

Continued disharmony in governance and the leadership void could cause significant risks to the city, including the chief executive leaving, he said.

It was impossible to escape the conclusion the council was in trouble “but most of all it is operating in a leadership void”.

The situation would not improve without intervention. Guidance from independent governance observers was his recommended option. The other two options were statutory intervention or to do nothing, which was not a valid or credible response, he said.

Mr Thomson noted in his report that, according to the people he interviewed, the mayor appeared to be struggling to follow council agendas and papers without assistance “although a couple of participants see that as a situational issue rather than cognitive difficulties”.

“Many interviewees reported a range of obvious concerns including short term memory deficits, confusion, and the need to be closely managed by both council staff and senior councillors in order to chair a council meeting,” he said. 

“They reported increasing incidents of embarrassment during meetings which a, generally, compassionate council has done their best to hide from the general public. This approach is now failing (as is evident from increasing media statements regarding aspects of his performance) and many councillors report a general community concern about "what is happening to Sir Tim”,” Mr Thomson said.

Read the full report HERE.

An accompanying fact sheet and staff report on the way forward can be found HERE.