Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
A Gore councillor boycotted a retreat because of the involvement of mayor Ben Bell's assistant, who was facing fraud charges.
Shanna Crosbie forged a doctor's signature to access prescription opioids while working as health coach subcontractor at the Gore Health Clinic in August and September 2022.
She also worked as an unpaid personal assistant to Bell following October's local elections, including travelling to Wellington to attend mayor training with him.
Gore District Council had been beset by controversies since Bell unseated long-time incumbent Tracy Hicks by just eight votes in October.
Bell and council chief executive Stephen Parry are not speaking, and the ructions around the council table came to head last month when a group of councillors lead by deputy mayor Keith Hovell called on the 24-year-old to resign.
Gore mayor Ben Bell. Photo: Supplied / Facebook
The group planned a vote of no confidence in the mayor at an extraordinary council meeting on 16 May 2022, but ultimately backed down following a protest by members of the public outside the council office ahead of the meeting.
However, one of the earliest flashpoints for the disharmony around the council table was a mayoral retreat in Cromwell on 20 and 21 November.
Several councillors did not attend and it has now emerged at least two of them boycotted it due to concerns about Crosbie's involvement.
Emails obtained under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act showed Crosbie - who signed off her emails as Personal Assistant to Ben Bell, Mayor, Gore District Council - took a leading role in organising the retreat.
The emails showed Crosbie was trying to organise workbooks for the retreat and gifts for speakers on 17 November - the same day police spoke to her about the forgery offending.
Two days later she was charged.
Councillor Richard McPhail - a former senior police officer in Gore - said he was aware of Crosbie's offending and that was why he left the mayor's retreat on 20 November, even before it began.
"I removed myself from that retreat and it was due to the fact that Shanna Crosbie was involved in it and I had concerns regarding the association and implications of Shanna's involvement," McPhail told RNZ on Thursday.
He did not say how he learned Crosbie was charged with offending but said he was aware of it by the time of the retreat "along with half of Gore".
McPhail would not comment on whether he informed the mayor about Crosbie or any discussions the pair had before he left the retreat.
He told his fellow councillors and staff at the retreat that he was "leaving for reasons of professionalism, integrity and trust", but said did not specifically mention Crosbie's offending.
"I daresay everyone was aware of what the situation was."
The day after the mayoral retreat the council voted down Bell's request to have an executive assistant permanently appointed to his office.
McPhail said part of his motivation for voting against the proposal was his concerns about Crosbie.
Bronwyn Reid, who did not attend the retreat, said her biggest concern was it had been organised by Crosbie - her other issue being it was held out of the Gore district.
The two other councillors who did not attend were Neville Phillips, who said he had work commitments, and Bret Highsted, who has since resigned from the council.
Bell did not respond to RNZ's questions on Wednesday about when he learned of Crosbie's offending.
Crosbie was convicted in the Gore District Court in March 2023 of forging prescriptions for tramadol and codeine.
