Mayor offered Prentice deputy's job

BY EVAN HARDING

Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt offered Suzanne Prentice the deputy mayoralty if she did not stand against him at next month's local body election, The Southland Times has learned.

The offer, made in December, was refused by Ms Prentice who later decided to challenge Mr Shadbolt for the mayoralty.

When approached for comment on the issue yesterday, both Mr Shadbolt and Ms Prentice confirmed the offer had been made.

Ms Prentice said Mr Shadbolt left a message on her answerphone on December 15 offering her the deputy's job, saying if she accepted it would make her transition to the mayoralty smoother and save them from fighting it out.

Ms Prentice said she later declined the offer in an email message to the mayor, saying she was still keeping all her options open at that time.

She said yesterday the council was in disarray at the time of the offer and she did not feel comfortable about it, nor did she believe it was the right environment for her to learn from Mr Shadbolt as his deputy mayor.

Mr Shadbolt had not been in a position to offer her the deputy's job because the city councillors were the ones who decided who the deputy mayor would be, she said.

Invercargill electoral officer Graham Low yesterday said he knew of no instance in Invercargill where the mayor's recommendation for a deputy mayor had been turned down by the city councillors.

Mr Shadbolt yesterday said he had offered Ms Prentice the deputy's job at a time when she was still considering standing for the mayoralty.

He did not offer her the job because he believed she would beat him in a mayoralty race; more than 80 per cent of sitting mayors were re-elected, Mr Shadbolt said.

He had offered Ms Prentice the deputy mayoralty so he could groom her to take over the mayoralty from him in coming years.

"It's beholden on you, when you see some shining light coming forward, to pass on your knowledge to the incumbent for the future," he said.

His current deputy mayor Neil Boniface had stated he did not want the job if Mr Shadbolt was re-elected, Mr Shadbolt said.

"I said (to Ms Prentice) I am looking for a new deputy and I will teach you all the tricks of the trade and everything I know about local government, and then you will have a good crack at (the mayoralty) in the future."

"I just genuinely thought that was the best way for her to go, and she turned me down. I guess history will be the judge."

He said there was a "little bit of opportunism" in his offer because it would have given added strength to the democratic side of the council, with Invercargill having a high-profile mayor and a high-profile deputy mayor.

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