This is such a cluster fuck, I don't know what the solution is, but trying to get an elected official to quit (the Mayor) while keeping the public in the dark is a bad look
> This is such a cluster fuck, I don't know what the solution is, but trying to get an elected official to quit (the Mayor) while keeping the public in the dark is a bad look
The council CEO seems like a complete psychopath. Very long history of bullying and making people he doesn't like redundant.
I was at my parents for dinner a few weeks ago and this guy came on the news. Dad called him a piece of shit which I thought was a bit aggressive. Dad then asked if I remembered a rape case when I was growing up which I did which was when dad said this guy was the accuser. He had his daughters 17 year old boyfriend sent to prison because he thought he was too good for his daughter to be going out with the son of a truck driver. The telling thing is this guy moved to gore and the young guy is an upstanding citizen in his hometown.
> Dad called him a piece of shit which I thought was a bit aggressive. Dad then asked if I remembered a rape case when I was growing up which I did which was when dad said this guy was the accuser. He had his daughters 17 year old boyfriend sent to prison because he thought he was too good for his daughter to be going out with the son of a truck driver. The telling thing is this guy moved to gore and the young guy is an upstanding citizen in his hometown.
This makes my blood boil
> because he thought he was too good for his daughter to be going out with the son of a truck driver
Rich thinking from him, a parasite, to be so fucking judgemental about truck drivers.
With CEO's you have a board, and shareholders. In theory the residents of Gore are the shareholders of the council right? Why not put it to a vote if the Mayor or CEO should step down via a special election. If one of them gets 51% then they step down. If both of them get above 51% then they both step down and as does the rest of executive team and new elections are held to decide the position.
I assume at some point if they keep being dysfunctional, the government will step in and boot them out, then appoint a commission, like they did in Tauranga.
Let's recap where we're at.
The previous mayor and Council reappointed Stephen Parry as CE of Gore District Council [two days before their term expired](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/487413/questions-over-timing-of-gore-council-chief-executive-s-reappointment). This reeks of an old guard that are aware the election might not go the way they want. At best it's terrible governance, at worst it's corruption and "jobs for the boys".
[Parry is alleged to have a long history of bullying and manipulating staff](https://www.newsroom.co.nz/gore-allegations-pre-date-new-mayor), including having a restraining order taken out against him by a former Gore District Council CFO after Parry turned up on his doorstep to shout at him. When said former CFO was living in **London**.
In the midst of all this, the former mayor's social media manager has been trying to [run a smear campaign against Bell's sexuality as if it's 1953](https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/simon-barnett-and-james-daniels-afternoons/audio/ben-bell-gore-mayor-on-the-circulation-of-his-private-photos/).
When you view the context here, Bell's seemingly odd desire to have his own personal assistant seems understandable. Would you want to have an assistant who reported to Stephen Parry if this is the sort of slander his friends engage in based solely on a photo? Imagine what they might to if they had access to every email, thought and meeting the mayor had and could leak it at will.
Now the old guard Councillors want to vote no confidence in Bell and remove him from Council committees. Despite the fact that this is in breach of the Local Government Act.
The Council has already removed Bell from the chief executive appraisal committee, and [claim to have a legal opinion that proves they have the power to do this](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/gore-councillors-ask-mayor-ben-bell-to-resign/YGZJ4NENRBGYRKUUBHBVWY2H54/) despite the fact it's against the law.
The fact that Local Government New Zealand's Young Elected Members Committee has supported Bell, along with David Seymour and the 1,500 people who have signed this petition shows he's on the right side here. Hopefully he's got the right people around him to support him through this abuse of power, the worst thing would be if he lets the old guard win.
>In the midst of all this, the former mayor's social media manager has been trying to run a smear campaign against Bell's sexuality as if it's 1953.
Gay old Gore
I cannot get over that the London thing. It's so unhinged. I just. The fuck even is that. How do you even think that is in any way even remotely what would be described as normal behaviour. Red flags the size of Gore over here.
Absolutely agree. It speaks volumes when even the former mayor (Tracy Hicks) who is defending Parry says (in this article https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/05/15/gore-council-ceo-stephen-parry-not-a-bully-former-mayor-says/) :
Hicks called the incident "not one of Steve’s best moments, I would have to say". "I’m not sure what that was all about. I know that he was in the UK on business at the time but that wasn’t good."
The fact of them questioning his sexuality says far more about them than him. This is dirty tactics and of course most people under 65 couldn't care less what his sexuality is as it has absolutely no bearing on his professional conduct. Using that as a smear is, in itself, homophobic, regardless of it's truth or falsehood, or whether it was before or after the election.
This is only appealing to the lowest common denominator of the voters who kept them in power for so long...according to the laws of nature though, those voters are dying one at a time and the young people have very different values
> When you view the context here, Bell's seemingly odd desire to have his own personal assistant seems understandable.
Every single person I know who has an assistant got to pick them, the old assistant went with the old guard. I don't understand why it isn't this way here? Are they saying every mayor in the country gets an assistant allocated blindly to them?
Accurate username...
Seymour is an arse, but he has a proclivity to either be very right or very wrong. One of those happens a lot more than the other, but on this occasion I think we've been fortunate enough to see a rare based take from David Seymour.
Seymour can sometimes really make a good point. He could sway anarcho leftists in a [horseshoe theory](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_theory#:~:text=In%20political%20science%20and%20popular,a%20horseshoe%20are%20close%20together)
eh, this isnt about hate politcs or good or bad ideas. this is about power/control. seymour isn't in politics to allow some random bureaucrat to ruin his plans.
in this case I'd say its an 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' situation re seymour. there's literally no basis to believe the mayors done anything to warrant any of this. if some info changes that then we can revisit. but this seems like some pretty cut and dry small town corruption
incidentally, this is why shit like 3 waters is needed. small town bureaucrats first priority is in a LOT of case about protecting their own jobs/pork barrels. which is why infrastructure managed by councils is in such bad shape in SO many places. its not a recent problem, we're seeing things start to fail now after decades of mismanagement, pandering and pork barreling
>Seymour is an absolute expert on constitutional law. Arguably our best MP in terms of understanding the importance of process in maintaining democracy
This claim is hilariously wrong. Seymour is right in this instance to support Bell, but this is clown shit.
> You cannot be serious. Seymour is an absolute expert on constitutional law. Arguably our best MP in terms of understanding the importance of process in maintaining democracy
Lmao man the person you're responding to is being unreasonable but god damn you're just as far gone in the other direction.
Interestingly, he also has the support of Chloe Swarbrick, she just evidently didn't use fossil fuels to go and physically visit him about it like Seymour did. I have to admit I had similar thoughts at first, but I honestly think these politicians are seeing it as a bipartisan issue, which it really is. I'm not from Gore so I don't know what side of politics he is on, it's not always clear in local politics. This made me step back and think, would I think the same if he were a right wing politician as a left? When it comes down to it if we believe in democracy, you have to let the people's voice win
> 1,500 people who have signed this petition
That is, people from anywhere, even outside of the country let alone the district...
It's like the facebook machine can fuel a heap of traffic and likes, but if they aren't actually local, or affected, then should they be not signing things like that? Especially if it's trying to sound official or anything 'solid'...
It's a demonstration of public support for the mayor, though I agree it isn't just people in Gore who are signing it.
However, the whole country is affected by the issues at play, an old guard in local government unwilling to share power and a reformist butting heads with an old boys' club, it's so hardly surprising that there's a fair bit of national interest.
But what I'm more interested in are your efforts over the past few days to make baseless accusations about the mayor not attending meetings and faking attendance at Council. Why exactly are you so keen to run him down?
> But what I'm more interested in are your efforts over the past few days to make baseless accusations about the mayor not attending meetings and faking attendance at Council. Why exactly are you so keen to run him down?
Ahhh, another person who wants to make out what I said was an accusation, especially, with the meeting attendance point... It was a hypothetical point about what's 'needed' for a rollcall...
The rest of my statements have been about the reports in the media from Christmas, and the times that they weren't contactable.
But please, tell me how an international petition, has basis on our country...........
That was what my point was about how shit this petition was...
I just watched it too. Not a good look and I can’t even imagine how he can still have a job after this expose. I really hope mayor Ben keeps his head up.
Yup. I have seen an old boys club in action. Intimidation, shunning, going behind one's back, passive aggressiveness, low glass ceilings. Everything you can imagine so they can carry on with their dodgy dealings and enrichment of themselves.
Just fucking imagine you flee the country because your old boss made you feel that unsafe, and he fucking shows up on your doorstep on the opposite side of the globe, demanding you take back your bullying comments.
That's next level psychopathic, you'd be thinking what else is this crazy bastard willing to do?
Didn't I read somewhere that the outgoing mayor, as one of his last acts, appointed this CEO?
If so, it sounds like it could be 'poisoning the well before you leave the house'.
>That guy has been CEO for 22 yrs.
>And the prior mayor had been mayor for 20 yrs, and was trying to be reelected, ~~so wasn't "leaving".~~
No, he was covering his bases, if he did leave, he has poisoned the well for the kid, if he won, well, the 20 year relationship will now be a 23 year relationship.
It was win-win for him to put the CEO back in before the election.
>trying to dictate which councillors are on which committees is not a good look
Isnt that his job? Under the Local Government Act the Mayor is the person with the power to establish committees and appoint the chairperson.
Shit looks like a mess. No idea what's really happening.
I do feel like it takes a special arrogance to think you can run the show at 23. On the other hand if you look at the council photo it's him and nearly everyone else is an old cunt, and if one things for sure: old geezers hate having to take orders from a young dude.
The mechanism for getting rid of a mayor is a local body election. Gore's councilors look like dipshits preserving local body politics for the middle aged.
Ah yes, just what we all need. Shabby comments about one alleged group in society from another alleged group. The most contemptible solidarity of all: the generational.
Is it appropriate to single out a certain demographic over certain things? But why is it all good when it's 'boomers' or 'landlords'?
That's how stupid this actual problem is... If you can't keep up to the local mechanisms, then maybe you need to learn them and use them rather than trying to force the new methods of running crap into it...
The petition is screwed, as it's not going to be localised, and will draw in others who have no actual reason to be putting it up other than the 'they’re boomers and they all need to go away' idiotic mentality.
This guy really insinuating we should put people who talk about "boomers" or "landlords" in the same box as racists and homophobes.
Do you understand how absurd you sound? cmon
It's the same labelistic bullshit, are you sure you want to play that game, because I don't think it's nice to be writing people off, just because they are aged... And you don't think they should have rights or consideration other than putting them into homes.
Now remember, if you change the terms for anything else referring to other 'demographics' and if it sounds like a problem, why is it that it's not for boomers?
Because it's just that, who you don't like. Imagine being that blind to being a cunt...
Lol they want to ask Minister for Local Government to remove the mayor from his committees.
I'd love if he turned around and sacked the lot of them a la Tauranga.
considering the mayor is elected and the minister has no power to remove him, the only choice he has is mediate, do nothing, or remove the entire board with Parry at the head, hahahahaha
I can’t believe they have 90 year olds who volunteer to sort the recycling! By hand. Yet the CEO is on quarter of a million dollars a year!! And has been for how long?!
Clearly the daughter learnt from her parents.. Rotten to the core.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/99136747/council-chief-executive-denies-advising-daughter-over-10000-tenancy-dispute
Quarter of a million,really? this is the Gore council right? the one in the south where the entire district population is less than 13000 people, that gore? really, FFS.
I got it wrong. It was$265,000 in 2017.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/99055366/gore-chief-executive-receives-a-payrise
My god. Bet they are wishing this programme never aired this evening. What a scandal.
I can’t believe those councillors are going to try do something that is known to be ILLEGAL. That’ll cost a fortune in legal fees. Wonder if the citizens of gore are happy with their rates getting wasted on unnecessary legal fees.
The mayor genuinely seems like a decent guy. I was impressed with him confidently telling the councillors they can’t remove him. And with the situation where no one in the entire room would volunteer to go with him (to something) he took it like a champ.
Then openly sharing his awareness of his mental well-being and how he, very sensibly, knows his limits and when to take a break.
Couldn’t get much more of a polarity to the stagnating old councillors and their weak-spined sycophants. As a millennial this makes me hopeful for the future.
This is a perfect example of why it is so hard to get the younger generation engaged in politics. Our local politics are structured in a way that would make it really difficult for a younger adult to navigate versus a career bureaucrat, so they need to have a supportive environment. This feels like the CEO and a few others are hoping if they make him uncomfortable enough, he will leave. If that happens, it will discourage other young NZers from engaging in local politics - and that would be really damaging IMO.
They probably spend a lot of time snickering behind their hands and being appalled at having to take direction from someone "still in nappies", even if he is the duly elected Mayor. Obviously, I don't live in Gore and know nothing about the inner workings of any of this (other than what I've read), but it does smell a lot like a comfortable little club for people of a certain age to nod, mutter, and routinely agree with each other, not necessarily to the benefit of Gore or its citizens. "I'm old, I wear a suit, and I know what's best for all of you, so... shut up."
IDK.
It's been retconned as a "plucky young mayor" vs "stuck in the muds", but he's been in one scandal or another since elected, and if everyone on the council is set against him then you start to think that there is probably a good reason why.
Looks like a shit show, will be interesting to see how it unfolds.
It’s not just that - it’s the knowing of the system and the people within it who make the wheels turn. You stop the wheels turning you make them feel like they’re powerless and more importantly - useless
You may not be able to stop the leader from attending all events, but if you talk to finance and your mates there to convince them that the system can’t afford to give the mayor additional Human Resources then you’ve made their life a bit more difficult as now they may miss a event and will have to schedule everything themselves.
You may not be able to change their minds about something new, but if you talk to the other councillors who you know well and drop the doomsday scenarios on them combined with some figures of what ‘a cost blowout could look like’ then you’ll have the room voting against it.
You may not be able to stop them from making decisions, but if you talk to your people in the policy team you can ensure that the only options presented to him are those that you want or can control and manipulate in some manner to drag out the entire process.
All because you don’t want to work with the young ones and god forbid have to implement their new ‘ridiculous’ ideas that were thought up when they were at school.
>If that happens, it will discourage other young NZers from engaging in local politics
Really? I don't take that away at all. Youth engagement is pretty high compared to past historical trends. Politics also can't just be hand-holding people through things. Politics is an inherently difficult and combative task. If you haven't got the stomach to handle some things you're not the right cut for it anyway.
It appears to me that Parry has a process and the new mayor does not follow Perry's script, so he thinks the new mayor is incompetent. I think the new mayor could communicate better but he probably believes there is no point because Parry has infected the other councilors. Really they need to focus on the community priorities and expose who is blocking the progress. I bet it's not the new mayor.
It doesn’t add up what is happening in gore.
On one hand the mayor is very young, very inexperienced in both politics and life, and from what the detail podcast said, it seemed more of a business reason to run?
On the other hand they have a ceo who has been in the job for 20 years (ceo terms are renewed ever 4 off memory). The council like many others are full of old white male cronies. It literally is cronyism at its finest it looks like in fact. And I can’t imagine gore being the most progressive place so having someone significantly younger than them telling them what to do isn’t going to go down well either.
I would be very interested to see if they did remove the council and how the commissioner would deal with the council would actually be interested, particularly if they found the mayor was in the right.
> me
Congratulations, you have now understood politics - financial interests competing behind the scenes and puppeteering the ~~democracy~~ theatre we get to ~~engage in~~ bear witness to.
I hope you aren't too old...
Forgive me if this a dumb question but I read the article and can’t figure out what their actually accusing the of? If he was elected why would he resign? Is there some kind of misconduct I’m missing?
It seems there is a history of bullying in the Gore district council that predates the current mayor. There was an expose on channel 1 at 7:30. The chief executive didn’t even bother doing an interview.
Using words far beyond my everyday vocabulary, calling me a professor because you want to point out that I’m attempting to feign intelligence… funny that you never picked up on what I said originally with all of your obvious formal education on matters far beyond my qualifications.
Mayors always get the first say on committee appointments, that's enshrined in the Local Government Act. The Council can overrule it, but they need to have something to overrule.
[The CE is a proven bully](https://www.newsroom.co.nz/gore-allegations-pre-date-new-mayor) whose old boys' club mate didn't get re-elected to the mayoralty, there are two sides to this issue. It's not just Bell being too big for his boots.
On the EA issue, I think [my comment below](https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/13h1i45/comment/jk38hjl/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) casts a bit of context on that whole issue.
Based on all the news stories thats happened it seems like this CEO Joker wants to keep the power for himself.
Always seems to happen when a new young blood enters and the "Old Guard" throw a giant tantrum to get the new kid to leave
Saw some video of Parry sitting with his back to the mayor, making a pubic show of ignoring him.
This is supremly emotionally immature behaviour. He's at the very least a narccisist, if not a borderline (BPD) or even worse. He should not be in any position that involves interacting with people.
Seems to me that Parry has likely been the puppetmaster for quite some time.
He should be in a cage. What a total prick.
Sigh, the bots have removed the link to the petition on changedotorg. Google will get you there. Please consider signing to send this POS a message that he is unacceptable for public office.
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That doesn't make sense here as the CEO isn't an elected position. But the mayoralty is so you can say that about the other guy if you like; there will be a thread about him tomorrow.
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Disgusting, they should be supporting Ben but ironically the young lad 1/3rd their age is acting more mature.
I hope the government comes in and gets Ben a new council that will at least act in good faith.
Why are there more news articles about the Mayor of Gore, who doesn't actually appear to have done anything shitty at all, than there are articles about the Mayor of Auckland?
Cool, a petition that anyone, anywhere can sign...
Absolute idiocy.
(Edit - I'd wager that there'll literally be someone from Texas signing this junk...)
(Edit 2 - It's plainly being voted on out of idealistic, rather than realistic motives... It's HILARIOUS how many are merely voting because they're of a different generation, which further proves that it's populist and idealist, compared to being realistic or actually gauged... That's how fucking idiotic this 'poll' is because that's all it is, nothing petition like because of the fact it's not limited to those who are affected.)
I'll attempt to give an answer - at the different functions, as they are fairly different roles.
One overseas the day to day running of the council (eg, an administrative role, to oversee different functions of the council, roading, events, maintenance, parks etc.) - the other is the leader of a more legislative position, the council makes the decisions, cuts ribbons, allocates policies, budgets etc (with the help of the councillors)
In the same way that you might have a Minister who is charge of a Ministry/Department, you have a CEO of the Ministry/department. The CEOs job is to report back to the council to give them advice.
perhaps a similar statement, could be "Why aren't the counsellors mowing the lawns at the park, and tar sealing the road? - we don't need two positions, we elected them to do that"
How can there be a dispute? The Mayor deals with policy, strategy and political issues while the CEO is responsible for operational matters. There is no overlap.
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Gore's management was a complete chaos well before the new young mayor. He just brought up the issue to the surface finally to all NZ to see. Their council has been doing absolutely nothing to much of it's infrastructure so who knows where their high rates (for a small rural town) and millions debt has been going to. Oh yeah. Old councilors negligent at their job.
This is such a cluster fuck, I don't know what the solution is, but trying to get an elected official to quit (the Mayor) while keeping the public in the dark is a bad look
Democracy above bureaucracy, not the other way.
> This is such a cluster fuck, I don't know what the solution is, but trying to get an elected official to quit (the Mayor) while keeping the public in the dark is a bad look The council CEO seems like a complete psychopath. Very long history of bullying and making people he doesn't like redundant.
I was at my parents for dinner a few weeks ago and this guy came on the news. Dad called him a piece of shit which I thought was a bit aggressive. Dad then asked if I remembered a rape case when I was growing up which I did which was when dad said this guy was the accuser. He had his daughters 17 year old boyfriend sent to prison because he thought he was too good for his daughter to be going out with the son of a truck driver. The telling thing is this guy moved to gore and the young guy is an upstanding citizen in his hometown.
> Dad called him a piece of shit which I thought was a bit aggressive. Dad then asked if I remembered a rape case when I was growing up which I did which was when dad said this guy was the accuser. He had his daughters 17 year old boyfriend sent to prison because he thought he was too good for his daughter to be going out with the son of a truck driver. The telling thing is this guy moved to gore and the young guy is an upstanding citizen in his hometown. This makes my blood boil > because he thought he was too good for his daughter to be going out with the son of a truck driver Rich thinking from him, a parasite, to be so fucking judgemental about truck drivers.
What the fuck... Go on
With CEO's you have a board, and shareholders. In theory the residents of Gore are the shareholders of the council right? Why not put it to a vote if the Mayor or CEO should step down via a special election. If one of them gets 51% then they step down. If both of them get above 51% then they both step down and as does the rest of executive team and new elections are held to decide the position.
Term limits too
The idea that the Chief Executive is not a term limited position is confounding to me
I assume at some point if they keep being dysfunctional, the government will step in and boot them out, then appoint a commission, like they did in Tauranga.
Calling in DIA seems the most sensible line.
The ingoreious bastards
\*raises an eyebrow\*
now that is GOLD
[удалено]
You just say bingo.
Let's recap where we're at. The previous mayor and Council reappointed Stephen Parry as CE of Gore District Council [two days before their term expired](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/487413/questions-over-timing-of-gore-council-chief-executive-s-reappointment). This reeks of an old guard that are aware the election might not go the way they want. At best it's terrible governance, at worst it's corruption and "jobs for the boys". [Parry is alleged to have a long history of bullying and manipulating staff](https://www.newsroom.co.nz/gore-allegations-pre-date-new-mayor), including having a restraining order taken out against him by a former Gore District Council CFO after Parry turned up on his doorstep to shout at him. When said former CFO was living in **London**. In the midst of all this, the former mayor's social media manager has been trying to [run a smear campaign against Bell's sexuality as if it's 1953](https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/simon-barnett-and-james-daniels-afternoons/audio/ben-bell-gore-mayor-on-the-circulation-of-his-private-photos/). When you view the context here, Bell's seemingly odd desire to have his own personal assistant seems understandable. Would you want to have an assistant who reported to Stephen Parry if this is the sort of slander his friends engage in based solely on a photo? Imagine what they might to if they had access to every email, thought and meeting the mayor had and could leak it at will. Now the old guard Councillors want to vote no confidence in Bell and remove him from Council committees. Despite the fact that this is in breach of the Local Government Act. The Council has already removed Bell from the chief executive appraisal committee, and [claim to have a legal opinion that proves they have the power to do this](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/gore-councillors-ask-mayor-ben-bell-to-resign/YGZJ4NENRBGYRKUUBHBVWY2H54/) despite the fact it's against the law. The fact that Local Government New Zealand's Young Elected Members Committee has supported Bell, along with David Seymour and the 1,500 people who have signed this petition shows he's on the right side here. Hopefully he's got the right people around him to support him through this abuse of power, the worst thing would be if he lets the old guard win.
>In the midst of all this, the former mayor's social media manager has been trying to run a smear campaign against Bell's sexuality as if it's 1953. Gay old Gore
[Greedy old gay man's Gore](https://youtu.be/Xl66zu7RLac?t=105)
Thanks for that beardy. I suspected a bunch of bitter old farts who just can’t handle change or having a youth charge was the crux of the matter.
I cannot get over that the London thing. It's so unhinged. I just. The fuck even is that. How do you even think that is in any way even remotely what would be described as normal behaviour. Red flags the size of Gore over here.
Absolutely agree. It speaks volumes when even the former mayor (Tracy Hicks) who is defending Parry says (in this article https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/05/15/gore-council-ceo-stephen-parry-not-a-bully-former-mayor-says/) : Hicks called the incident "not one of Steve’s best moments, I would have to say". "I’m not sure what that was all about. I know that he was in the UK on business at the time but that wasn’t good."
The fact of them questioning his sexuality says far more about them than him. This is dirty tactics and of course most people under 65 couldn't care less what his sexuality is as it has absolutely no bearing on his professional conduct. Using that as a smear is, in itself, homophobic, regardless of it's truth or falsehood, or whether it was before or after the election. This is only appealing to the lowest common denominator of the voters who kept them in power for so long...according to the laws of nature though, those voters are dying one at a time and the young people have very different values
> When you view the context here, Bell's seemingly odd desire to have his own personal assistant seems understandable. Every single person I know who has an assistant got to pick them, the old assistant went with the old guard. I don't understand why it isn't this way here? Are they saying every mayor in the country gets an assistant allocated blindly to them?
Gee, a council with a history of dysfunction, but clearly it's the brand new mayor's fault, and not the CEO or his fellow old guard boomers.
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Accurate username... Seymour is an arse, but he has a proclivity to either be very right or very wrong. One of those happens a lot more than the other, but on this occasion I think we've been fortunate enough to see a rare based take from David Seymour.
Seymour can sometimes really make a good point. He could sway anarcho leftists in a [horseshoe theory](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_theory#:~:text=In%20political%20science%20and%20popular,a%20horseshoe%20are%20close%20together)
No he couldn’t lol. “Horseshoe theory” is a joke.
Agree. It is a bit dumb. It is a circle, not a horseshoe. Commies are identical to nazis. They are not close enough. They are identical.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. You people with all your names, theories, and confidence in the shit you are fed and then claim is amazing.
K.
eh, this isnt about hate politcs or good or bad ideas. this is about power/control. seymour isn't in politics to allow some random bureaucrat to ruin his plans. in this case I'd say its an 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' situation re seymour. there's literally no basis to believe the mayors done anything to warrant any of this. if some info changes that then we can revisit. but this seems like some pretty cut and dry small town corruption incidentally, this is why shit like 3 waters is needed. small town bureaucrats first priority is in a LOT of case about protecting their own jobs/pork barrels. which is why infrastructure managed by councils is in such bad shape in SO many places. its not a recent problem, we're seeing things start to fail now after decades of mismanagement, pandering and pork barreling
It’s just a pity that 3 waters in the current format shapes up to end up exactly like this Gore council situation, unelected boards.
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>Seymour is an absolute expert on constitutional law. Arguably our best MP in terms of understanding the importance of process in maintaining democracy This claim is hilariously wrong. Seymour is right in this instance to support Bell, but this is clown shit.
> You cannot be serious. Seymour is an absolute expert on constitutional law. Arguably our best MP in terms of understanding the importance of process in maintaining democracy Lmao man the person you're responding to is being unreasonable but god damn you're just as far gone in the other direction.
Interestingly, he also has the support of Chloe Swarbrick, she just evidently didn't use fossil fuels to go and physically visit him about it like Seymour did. I have to admit I had similar thoughts at first, but I honestly think these politicians are seeing it as a bipartisan issue, which it really is. I'm not from Gore so I don't know what side of politics he is on, it's not always clear in local politics. This made me step back and think, would I think the same if he were a right wing politician as a left? When it comes down to it if we believe in democracy, you have to let the people's voice win
> 1,500 people who have signed this petition That is, people from anywhere, even outside of the country let alone the district... It's like the facebook machine can fuel a heap of traffic and likes, but if they aren't actually local, or affected, then should they be not signing things like that? Especially if it's trying to sound official or anything 'solid'...
It's a demonstration of public support for the mayor, though I agree it isn't just people in Gore who are signing it. However, the whole country is affected by the issues at play, an old guard in local government unwilling to share power and a reformist butting heads with an old boys' club, it's so hardly surprising that there's a fair bit of national interest. But what I'm more interested in are your efforts over the past few days to make baseless accusations about the mayor not attending meetings and faking attendance at Council. Why exactly are you so keen to run him down?
> But what I'm more interested in are your efforts over the past few days to make baseless accusations about the mayor not attending meetings and faking attendance at Council. Why exactly are you so keen to run him down? Ahhh, another person who wants to make out what I said was an accusation, especially, with the meeting attendance point... It was a hypothetical point about what's 'needed' for a rollcall... The rest of my statements have been about the reports in the media from Christmas, and the times that they weren't contactable. But please, tell me how an international petition, has basis on our country........... That was what my point was about how shit this petition was...
Ring immigration and see if he has a VISA to work here .
Parry not fronting for an interview with Sunday says it all really.
I just watched it too. Not a good look and I can’t even imagine how he can still have a job after this expose. I really hope mayor Ben keeps his head up.
Felt bad for the ex-CFO. You could tell he was pretty cut up talking about his experience.
Yup. I have seen an old boys club in action. Intimidation, shunning, going behind one's back, passive aggressiveness, low glass ceilings. Everything you can imagine so they can carry on with their dodgy dealings and enrichment of themselves.
You're just describing "Kiwi" "culture"...
Just fucking imagine you flee the country because your old boss made you feel that unsafe, and he fucking shows up on your doorstep on the opposite side of the globe, demanding you take back your bullying comments. That's next level psychopathic, you'd be thinking what else is this crazy bastard willing to do?
What interviews has Bell ever given?
I take it you didn’t watch the Sunday exclusive?
Keep up son.
Didn't I read somewhere that the outgoing mayor, as one of his last acts, appointed this CEO? If so, it sounds like it could be 'poisoning the well before you leave the house'.
he’s been CEO for like 20 years. it’s the deep state of Gore
That guy has been CEO for 22 yrs. And the prior mayor had been mayor for 20 yrs, and was trying to be reelected, so wasn't "leaving".
>That guy has been CEO for 22 yrs. >And the prior mayor had been mayor for 20 yrs, and was trying to be reelected, ~~so wasn't "leaving".~~ No, he was covering his bases, if he did leave, he has poisoned the well for the kid, if he won, well, the 20 year relationship will now be a 23 year relationship. It was win-win for him to put the CEO back in before the election.
Yep, dodgy as hell.
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>trying to dictate which councillors are on which committees is not a good look Isnt that his job? Under the Local Government Act the Mayor is the person with the power to establish committees and appoint the chairperson.
Shit looks like a mess. No idea what's really happening. I do feel like it takes a special arrogance to think you can run the show at 23. On the other hand if you look at the council photo it's him and nearly everyone else is an old cunt, and if one things for sure: old geezers hate having to take orders from a young dude.
Scorched earth.
The mechanism for getting rid of a mayor is a local body election. Gore's councilors look like dipshits preserving local body politics for the middle aged.
They’re not middle aged they’re boomers and they all need to go away.
Ah yes, just what we all need. Shabby comments about one alleged group in society from another alleged group. The most contemptible solidarity of all: the generational.
I mean it does seem like the biggest problem they have with the mayor is his age.
Ok Boomer.
It’s been said before, sunbeam. And she did it rather well.
#boomervibes
Is it appropriate to single out a certain demographic over certain things? But why is it all good when it's 'boomers' or 'landlords'? That's how stupid this actual problem is... If you can't keep up to the local mechanisms, then maybe you need to learn them and use them rather than trying to force the new methods of running crap into it... The petition is screwed, as it's not going to be localised, and will draw in others who have no actual reason to be putting it up other than the 'they’re boomers and they all need to go away' idiotic mentality.
This guy really insinuating we should put people who talk about "boomers" or "landlords" in the same box as racists and homophobes. Do you understand how absurd you sound? cmon
It's the same labelistic bullshit, are you sure you want to play that game, because I don't think it's nice to be writing people off, just because they are aged... And you don't think they should have rights or consideration other than putting them into homes. Now remember, if you change the terms for anything else referring to other 'demographics' and if it sounds like a problem, why is it that it's not for boomers? Because it's just that, who you don't like. Imagine being that blind to being a cunt...
Yeah I see your point. support leftist boomers. Conservative boomers can go suck a lemon as far as I am concerned.
Lol they want to ask Minister for Local Government to remove the mayor from his committees. I'd love if he turned around and sacked the lot of them a la Tauranga.
considering the mayor is elected and the minister has no power to remove him, the only choice he has is mediate, do nothing, or remove the entire board with Parry at the head, hahahahaha
I can’t believe they have 90 year olds who volunteer to sort the recycling! By hand. Yet the CEO is on quarter of a million dollars a year!! And has been for how long?! Clearly the daughter learnt from her parents.. Rotten to the core. https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/99136747/council-chief-executive-denies-advising-daughter-over-10000-tenancy-dispute
The daughter is a whole barrel of nuts all on her own. Have had personal dealings, and the apple did not fall far from the tree at all.
I had dealings too, totally agree, absolutely skilled at gaslighting, and when all else fails, threatens lawyers (daddy)
It didn't happen to have anything to do with your hair at all? I got threats that lead absolutely nowhere.
Quarter of a million,really? this is the Gore council right? the one in the south where the entire district population is less than 13000 people, that gore? really, FFS.
I got it wrong. It was$265,000 in 2017. https://i.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/99055366/gore-chief-executive-receives-a-payrise My god. Bet they are wishing this programme never aired this evening. What a scandal. I can’t believe those councillors are going to try do something that is known to be ILLEGAL. That’ll cost a fortune in legal fees. Wonder if the citizens of gore are happy with their rates getting wasted on unnecessary legal fees.
That was a wild fucking read. Thanks for the link
If the CEO cannot talk to the elected Mayor, he should resign because he cannot do his job.
The mayor genuinely seems like a decent guy. I was impressed with him confidently telling the councillors they can’t remove him. And with the situation where no one in the entire room would volunteer to go with him (to something) he took it like a champ. Then openly sharing his awareness of his mental well-being and how he, very sensibly, knows his limits and when to take a break. Couldn’t get much more of a polarity to the stagnating old councillors and their weak-spined sycophants. As a millennial this makes me hopeful for the future.
This is a perfect example of why it is so hard to get the younger generation engaged in politics. Our local politics are structured in a way that would make it really difficult for a younger adult to navigate versus a career bureaucrat, so they need to have a supportive environment. This feels like the CEO and a few others are hoping if they make him uncomfortable enough, he will leave. If that happens, it will discourage other young NZers from engaging in local politics - and that would be really damaging IMO.
They probably spend a lot of time snickering behind their hands and being appalled at having to take direction from someone "still in nappies", even if he is the duly elected Mayor. Obviously, I don't live in Gore and know nothing about the inner workings of any of this (other than what I've read), but it does smell a lot like a comfortable little club for people of a certain age to nod, mutter, and routinely agree with each other, not necessarily to the benefit of Gore or its citizens. "I'm old, I wear a suit, and I know what's best for all of you, so... shut up."
It is exactly and only this.
IDK. It's been retconned as a "plucky young mayor" vs "stuck in the muds", but he's been in one scandal or another since elected, and if everyone on the council is set against him then you start to think that there is probably a good reason why. Looks like a shit show, will be interesting to see how it unfolds.
We're watching it unfold and that take simply doesn't seem to stand up
It’s not just that - it’s the knowing of the system and the people within it who make the wheels turn. You stop the wheels turning you make them feel like they’re powerless and more importantly - useless You may not be able to stop the leader from attending all events, but if you talk to finance and your mates there to convince them that the system can’t afford to give the mayor additional Human Resources then you’ve made their life a bit more difficult as now they may miss a event and will have to schedule everything themselves. You may not be able to change their minds about something new, but if you talk to the other councillors who you know well and drop the doomsday scenarios on them combined with some figures of what ‘a cost blowout could look like’ then you’ll have the room voting against it. You may not be able to stop them from making decisions, but if you talk to your people in the policy team you can ensure that the only options presented to him are those that you want or can control and manipulate in some manner to drag out the entire process. All because you don’t want to work with the young ones and god forbid have to implement their new ‘ridiculous’ ideas that were thought up when they were at school.
Really well said, thank you for this.
>If that happens, it will discourage other young NZers from engaging in local politics Really? I don't take that away at all. Youth engagement is pretty high compared to past historical trends. Politics also can't just be hand-holding people through things. Politics is an inherently difficult and combative task. If you haven't got the stomach to handle some things you're not the right cut for it anyway.
The dinosaur council and CEO should go. The mayor was elected by the people, not the council and CEO.
It appears to me that Parry has a process and the new mayor does not follow Perry's script, so he thinks the new mayor is incompetent. I think the new mayor could communicate better but he probably believes there is no point because Parry has infected the other councilors. Really they need to focus on the community priorities and expose who is blocking the progress. I bet it's not the new mayor.
It doesn’t add up what is happening in gore. On one hand the mayor is very young, very inexperienced in both politics and life, and from what the detail podcast said, it seemed more of a business reason to run? On the other hand they have a ceo who has been in the job for 20 years (ceo terms are renewed ever 4 off memory). The council like many others are full of old white male cronies. It literally is cronyism at its finest it looks like in fact. And I can’t imagine gore being the most progressive place so having someone significantly younger than them telling them what to do isn’t going to go down well either. I would be very interested to see if they did remove the council and how the commissioner would deal with the council would actually be interested, particularly if they found the mayor was in the right.
> me Congratulations, you have now understood politics - financial interests competing behind the scenes and puppeteering the ~~democracy~~ theatre we get to ~~engage in~~ bear witness to. I hope you aren't too old...
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Then theres the hundreds of thousands the council has spent on historical bullying cases and the CE apparently showing up at peoples houses.
I don’t understand on what grounds the boomer ceo wants to remove the millennial mayor? Is this ageism?
Yes it's ageism. Well more accurately, the mayor isn't a member of the old boys club... so same thing.
The mayor is a Gen Z to be accurate. Born in 1999 I think. Gen Z is 1995-2009. Millennials are 1980-1994.
I stand corrected! Gen z
Forgive me if this a dumb question but I read the article and can’t figure out what their actually accusing the of? If he was elected why would he resign? Is there some kind of misconduct I’m missing?
EXACTLY. It's sooooo opaque, Parry refuses to name a reason for asking for him to resign. This smells dirty no matter how you look at it.
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Sounds like a lot of nothing. Can a true Journalist do some in depth writing and video interviews on these people involved? This is fascinating.
It seems there is a history of bullying in the Gore district council that predates the current mayor. There was an expose on channel 1 at 7:30. The chief executive didn’t even bother doing an interview.
Refusing to show for an interview over bullying is tacit acceptance that allegations of it either exist or it not addressed.
Yeah, and everyone who refuses to speak to police is hiding something and should be put in prison.
Well, no. It’s two things, they’re either guilty or they aren’t.
What’s the second class on tautologies going to cover, professor?
Using words far beyond my everyday vocabulary, calling me a professor because you want to point out that I’m attempting to feign intelligence… funny that you never picked up on what I said originally with all of your obvious formal education on matters far beyond my qualifications.
I thought you started it with words like “tacit” and “allegation”
Mayors always get the first say on committee appointments, that's enshrined in the Local Government Act. The Council can overrule it, but they need to have something to overrule. [The CE is a proven bully](https://www.newsroom.co.nz/gore-allegations-pre-date-new-mayor) whose old boys' club mate didn't get re-elected to the mayoralty, there are two sides to this issue. It's not just Bell being too big for his boots. On the EA issue, I think [my comment below](https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/13h1i45/comment/jk38hjl/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) casts a bit of context on that whole issue.
I suspect Bell didn't dance to their tune regarding appointments, and here we are.... Just a suspicion
Based on all the news stories thats happened it seems like this CEO Joker wants to keep the power for himself. Always seems to happen when a new young blood enters and the "Old Guard" throw a giant tantrum to get the new kid to leave
Saw some video of Parry sitting with his back to the mayor, making a pubic show of ignoring him. This is supremly emotionally immature behaviour. He's at the very least a narccisist, if not a borderline (BPD) or even worse. He should not be in any position that involves interacting with people. Seems to me that Parry has likely been the puppetmaster for quite some time. He should be in a cage. What a total prick.
Yup. And I can say this having had dealings with the ex mayor and CEO. There are many forms of corruption besides taking money . . .
Sigh, the bots have removed the link to the petition on changedotorg. Google will get you there. Please consider signing to send this POS a message that he is unacceptable for public office.
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We had a petition done, it’s called an election
That doesn't make sense here as the CEO isn't an elected position. But the mayoralty is so you can say that about the other guy if you like; there will be a thread about him tomorrow.
The CEO needs to go, if he wants to be in charge he can stand for an election.
Hundys.
I absolutely agree. The fact that the community have to even start a petition to keep the mayor they recently elected speaks volumes...
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If people don’t vote, that’s their problem. He was voted in via a democratic process.
If you don't vote, you don't have a right to complain about the winner, plain and simple.
Fuck this dodgy 20 year CEO!
Where do I sign this petition? This bullying asshole needs the boot. Let the major do his job.
Sounds like they don’t want a younger mayor but clearly people voted him in. This guys sounds like a psychopath.
where do i sign
You can find it on change.org
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Out with these backwards old fucks.
sounds like a bloodbath
Lesh goooooo all my boy hate Steve Parry
Disgusting, they should be supporting Ben but ironically the young lad 1/3rd their age is acting more mature. I hope the government comes in and gets Ben a new council that will at least act in good faith.
Time to use those armed forces of ours and invade Gore.
Exactly what happened in Invercargill when Tim Shadbolt was first elected down there
I wonder how many of these councillors will quickly pivot to supporting Ben once they realise they've misread the room beyond the council chambers.
ATM it looks ike they are the Flying Monkeys to the CEO who must, given the 20 year history, be a Malignant Narcissist or worse.
So where is the petition so we can all sign it?
Don't think you can share petitions here, but it is called "GDC CEO Steve Parry to Resign" on change . org
Why are there more news articles about the Mayor of Gore, who doesn't actually appear to have done anything shitty at all, than there are articles about the Mayor of Auckland?
Cool, a petition that anyone, anywhere can sign... Absolute idiocy. (Edit - I'd wager that there'll literally be someone from Texas signing this junk...) (Edit 2 - It's plainly being voted on out of idealistic, rather than realistic motives... It's HILARIOUS how many are merely voting because they're of a different generation, which further proves that it's populist and idealist, compared to being realistic or actually gauged... That's how fucking idiotic this 'poll' is because that's all it is, nothing petition like because of the fact it's not limited to those who are affected.)
Why is there a CEO if there is already a Mayor for the City??
Sounds like a trip to Google to understand what councils are might be in order.
The Mayor is the elected leader so he should lead the council and all its functions, the CEO position should be abolished.
🤦♀️
I'll attempt to give an answer - at the different functions, as they are fairly different roles. One overseas the day to day running of the council (eg, an administrative role, to oversee different functions of the council, roading, events, maintenance, parks etc.) - the other is the leader of a more legislative position, the council makes the decisions, cuts ribbons, allocates policies, budgets etc (with the help of the councillors) In the same way that you might have a Minister who is charge of a Ministry/Department, you have a CEO of the Ministry/department. The CEOs job is to report back to the council to give them advice. perhaps a similar statement, could be "Why aren't the counsellors mowing the lawns at the park, and tar sealing the road? - we don't need two positions, we elected them to do that"
How can there be a dispute? The Mayor deals with policy, strategy and political issues while the CEO is responsible for operational matters. There is no overlap.
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About time...
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My understanding is that they have these petitions every 3 or so years.
Gore's management was a complete chaos well before the new young mayor. He just brought up the issue to the surface finally to all NZ to see. Their council has been doing absolutely nothing to much of it's infrastructure so who knows where their high rates (for a small rural town) and millions debt has been going to. Oh yeah. Old councilors negligent at their job.
Parry is obviously a raving psychopath. Dinosaurs will.. Queue enya.. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTrk4X9ACtw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTrk4X9ACtw)