Gore District Councillors Unite

Gore District Mayor Ben Bell and councillors today apologised to the community and each other for the turmoil of recent days.

In a move to restore trust with the public and amongst each other, elected members have agreed to put their differences aside and refocus on serving the people of the Gore District.

In a joint statement, the elected members said they reunited following an in-depth, transparent, and honest conversation yesterday.

“We have agreed that we all need to communicate more openly and effectively so there are no further misunderstandings that could lead to an irreparable breakdown in trust.”

Given the Councillors’ desire to move forward, it was unanimously agreed not to proceed with the resolutions of a vote of no confidence and the request to remove the Mayor from all Council committees, sub-committees and joint committees.

It was decided to work with LGNZ and Taituarā to develop terms of reference for an independent review to renew confidence in the Council.

The issues relating to the Mayor and Chief Executive relationship were separate and would be addressed through mediation and an independent review.

The Council resolved that to protect the integrity of the mediation process and the independent review, it will be making no further comment on this topic until both processes are completed.