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Gore now without a deputy mayor

Rachael Kelly rachael.kelly@stuff.co.nz

It will be another 10 days before the Gore district has a deputy mayor after Stewart McDonell resigned from the position on Thursday.

And the council still has not decided on a governance structure after discussing it in a workshop.

However, mayor Ben Bell, who at age 23 is New Zealand’s youngest mayor, says his support still stays with councillor MacDonell, who resigned as deputy mayor after being appointed to the position just eight days ago.

‘‘It was Stewart’s choice and my support still stays with him.’’ Bell said.

‘‘He did it for the betterment of the council in his opinion.’’

In a statement released late on Thursday night, MacDonell said he respected the recent requisition, signed by seven councillors, calling for him to step down.

‘‘We have a lot of challenges in front of us. I want to see this council move forward and work collectively for the betterment of the district,’’ he said.

Bell said he had not decided who he would appoint as a new deputy mayor.

‘‘There are a few recommendations floating around and there were discussions around it,’’ he said.

He had not had discussions with any councillors about appointing them to the position.

The council did not put a governance structure in place at the workshop.

Bell had proposed a structure which included six committees and five portfolios, which council chief executive Stephen Parry said could cost the council $300,000 a year to run.

’’No decisions have been made, but some options were discussed,’’ Bell said.

His proposed structure was ‘‘definitely in the mix’’.

’’We had to have a starting point, and we’re looking at a whole range of options. We’ll decide that at a meeting on December 13 and them get on with getting back to work.’’

Council chief executive Stephen Parry said he had been concerned that the council was operating without a governance structure, but he said after Thursday’s meeting there was more clarity about what it might look like.

’’I’m reasonably confident we should be able to land on something acceptable on December 13,’’ he said.

Bell’s short tenure has so far proven controversial, after three councillors boycotted a retreat he planned for elected members in Cromwell, he had to foot the bill for his personal assistant’s trip to Wellington to accompany him to a twoday meeting, and councillors voted not to employ a personal assistant for him, saying it was a ‘‘vanity project’’.

After his first council meeting, he took three days leave, saying he had been ‘‘on the go constantly since being sworn in’’.

‘‘It was Stewart’s choice and my support still stays with him . . . ‘‘He did it for the betterment of the council in his opinion.’’ Ben Bell Gore District mayor

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2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281578064686964

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