Gore mayor Ben Bell and other district councillors have today apologised to council CEO Stephen Parry after a saga of conflict between Bell and Parry embattled the local government.
That conflict culminated in a failed vote of no confidence against Bell and a rejected petition calling for Parry to resign.
The no confidence vote came after a group of councillors had called on Bell to step down.
Bell and Parry were not speaking for a time, amid bully allegations levelled at Parry.
The issues were addressed in a statement from Bell and the other councillors this afternoon.
"Over the past many months there have been numerous media articles regarding relationships between the Mayor, the Chief Executive and Councillors at the Gore District Council," the statement began.
"This media attention has caused significant disruption, distress and hurt to the Chief Executive, staff, and Councillors.
"This has undermined various relationships and our community's confidence in its Council," the statement added.
The authors acknowledged "errors... during this discourse, which has had a detrimental impact on Mr Parry's reputation and wellbeing".
The statement said the mayor and councillors "wish to acknowledge and apologise for the hurt" they caused Parry, adding that Parry accepted the apology and had "their unreserved confidence".
"[The mayor and councillors] sincerely regret the breach of the Chief Executive's privacy earlier this year, which triggered public and significant media attention on Mr Parry, causing significant harm to him, his family, and his reputation," the statement said.
"The Council also affirms that Mr Parry is a skilled and experienced local government chief executive and has created a strong management team around him who are all supportive of him as their leader.
"Elected members and Mr Parry have agreed to put any differences behind them, work collaboratively together, and make every effort to rebuild trust and confidence that has been severely damaged over the past few months."
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