A petition to remove the Gore District Council chief executive has failed to be considered. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The Gore District Council has voted not to receive a petition calling for its chief executive Stephen Parry to resign.
Mayor Ben Bell and Parry are not speaking and the fallout of that relationship has caused ongoing issues for the council.
A group of councillors last month called on Bell to step down, but backed down from a public vote of no confidence.
The petition came in response.
Almost 5000 people signed it.
However, most were not from Gore, the council heard.
The report submitted to council said that 9 percent of those signing listed themselves as living in Gore, 12 percent in Southland, 46 percent elsewhere in New Zealand and 29 percent did not give a location.
Deputy Mayor Keith Hovell described the petition as no different from a Facebook post with a bunch of likes.
Several other councillors spoke strongly against the petition. Only Bell voted against the motion not to receive the petition.
Bell was narrowly elected last year as New Zealand's youngest mayor.