Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark. Photo: LDR/ Matthew Rosenberg
Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark may face a vote of no confidence or another request to resign after an investigation found he breached the council's Code of Conduct again.
Last month, he was formally censured and a vote to formally ask him to resign was narrowly defeated after a different Code of Conduct complaint for offensive behaviour at a firefighter prizegiving.
He refused to step down from public appearances before admitting he returned to work too soon after open heart surgery and taking a month off.
He returned this week and will face a second Code of Conduct complaint that was made after a "train-wreck" interview with comedian Guy Williams on satirical news show New Zealand Today aired in March. In it, he defended previous times he had used the N-word at events, again repeating the slur as well as using homophobic slurs during the interview, prompting councillors Ian Pottinger and Ria Bond to lodge a Code of Conduct complaint in April.
An extraordinary meeting has been called for Friday to discuss the complaint which claims his language and conduct were offensive, reflected poorly on the council and fell short of the standard of leadership required of a Mayor.
"The overall impression given was of a Mayor who is deliberately and gratuitously provocative, who is willing to use racial and homophobic slurs and implications recklessly, and who does so with little to no regard for how offensive such language and behaviour is likely to be to members of the public at large and minority communities in particular," the report said.
The councillor's complaint focused on his repeated use of the racial slur, his lack of remorse for his actions, him flaunting a copy of the book Twisting the Treaty - A Tribal Grab for Wealth and Power towards the camera and forcing Williams to say the N-word out loud.
Associating a book related to the Treaty of Waitangi with an interview concerning the use of the N-word was described as "sickening" in the complaint..
At Friday's meeting, councillors will be asked to decide whether to deal with the complaint, if a material breach has occurred and whether Clark should face consequences.
A report tabled at the meeting recommends the council considers a letter of censure and a public apology.
The report also recommends the council seriously consider restricting Clark's public-facing duties, a vote of no confidence and an invitation to consider resigning, saying these penalties were warranted and represented appropriate action, particularly if there was a risk of similar behaviour in the future.
Other possible consequences suggested cutting certain council-funded privileges, restricting access to council offices, limiting who he deals with at council or suspending or removing him from committees.
"At one point in the interview, Mayor Clark repeatedly and provocatively encourages Mr (Guy) Williams to use the N-word. He does so under the guise that he might agree not to use the N-word again if Mr (Guy) Williams publicly says the word in full. We consider this to have been an offensive, persistent, deliberately provocative and gratuitous exchange initiated and continued by Mayor Clark," the report said.
Law firm Wynn Williams conducted the independent investigation.
Wynn Williams partner Joshua Shaw noted Clark had already apologised to those offended by the interview.
But Shaw said it did not mitigate his conduct as he tried to minimise the problematic conduct, maintained the interview was received positively by the majority of the community and did not express any remorse for his actions.
Clark did not wish to be involved in the investigation.
Instead, he provided comments in writing, saying the councillors did not discuss their concerns with him before making the complaint and media comments He said a less costly process should have been chosen and alleged the complainants have "unresolved issues" with him, the report said.
In a statement, Clark said he accepted the interview was not good and brought discredit to the council and wider city in a written response to the investigation.
"I fully accept that my behaviour in this TV interview brings both the mayoral role and council into disrepute. I have undertaken many external presentations over the last four years and while most are well received, I am not perfect and I accept that this type of interview cannot occur again," Clark said.
"I apologise to my colleagues for the impact on them and the Invercargill public."
He disagreed with the investigator's recommended penalties, saying the Code did not include restricting public speaking duties.
The council's Code of Conduct listed penalties the council "might consider".
