Gore councillors ask Mayor Ben Bell to resign

Ben Bell has been asked to resign by the majority of Gore councillors — 215 days after he made headlines as New Zealand’s youngest mayor.

Deputy Mayor Keith Hovell and Cr Richard McPhail met Bell and asked him to resign on Wednesday, the council said in a statement released yesterday afternoon.

McPhail has been acting as an intermediary in the fractious relationship between Bell and council chief executive Stephen Parry.

After Bell refused the request, the councillors requested an extraordinary meeting for next Tuesday before the council’s scheduled meeting.

At that meeting the group would seek to pass a vote of no confidence in Bell and remove him from all committees.

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

Gore District Council Mayor Ben Bell and chief executive Stephen Parry. Photo / Otago Daily Times

Hovell, who was a planning consultant for the Gore District Council for nearly 20 years, 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 the majority of councillors had lost confidence in the mayor and the majority of councillors had lost trust in the mayor acting in the best interests of the community and council as a whole.

The meeting also calls for the council to write to the Minister of Local Government requesting a meeting with council representatives to discuss intervention measures available to assist the council to effectively govern and conduct its business as usual.

Bell, who was 23 when elected, said in a statement last night, he was disappointed councillors had called for his resignation.

“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.

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

Hovell declined to elaborate on the mayor’s actions last night.

“I will be expanding on it at the council meeting, starting at 3.15pm on Tuesday.

“I won’t be making any further comment between now and then.”

Gore District Mayor Ben Bell with Gore District deputy mayor Cr Stewart MacDonell. Photo / Sandy Eggleston

He said all the other councillors were forbidden to comment on the issue as well.

Former Gore mayor Tracy Hicks said it was “sad” the situation had reached this point.

“It’s going to be very interesting to see how this plays out.”

Bell has had a rollercoaster ride since being elected by a paper-thin margin in the election in October. He defeated incumbent, six-term mayor Hicks by eight votes.

It then emerged that Bell’s mother, Rebecca Taylor, had been involved in an employment wrangle with the council but neither party would reveal any details.

Bell then appointed his own personal assistant which was swiftly tossed out by the council. He appointed Stewart MacDonell as deputy mayor but shortly afterwards, while Bell was on leave, seven councillors signed a requisition requesting MacDonell be removed as deputy mayor.

Some councillors boycotted a councillors’ retreat in Cromwell organised by Bell.

On December 1, MacDonell resigned as deputy mayor, replaced by Hovell.

In March, the council held an extraordinary meeting to discuss issues between Bell and Parry.

It emerged the pair had not been talking since the end of last year.

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The council unanimously agreed to appoint councillor Richard McPhail to act as an intermediary between the pair on governance and relevant operational matters.

Parry said his working relationship with the mayor was “very strained” and they no longer talked. They had only met twice in the two months before Christmas.

Councillor Bret Highsted then resigned citing a “highly stressful” council environment since the election, where he found “levels of anxiety unsustainable”.

Last month, the council voted for an independent review into council governance to try to restore confidence.

It also attempted to stop Bell from sitting on the chief executive appraisal committee which was questioned by Bell.

A legal opinion obtained by the council showed the council had the legal power to bar Bell from sitting on the committee.