[2] He has been described as a blue collar worker and worked at Child, Youth and Family, Stopping Violence Southland, and the IHC New Zealand.
[7] Following clashes with Shadbolt, Clark announced his intention to resign as deputy in March 2022, but was eventually convinced to stay on.
[12] Following his election as Mayor, Clark announced that he would focus on opposing the Government's Three Waters reform programme, building a new museum in Invercargill and reviewing project spending.
He argued that he was questioning the line between artistic expression and hate speech in response to a controversial poem by Tusiata Avia.
[19][20][21][22] The incident was covered in an episode of New Zealand Today in March 2024, during which Guy Williams attempted to convince Clark not to use the word nigger.
[27][28] On 30 July, Clark issued a public apology for breaching the Council's code of conduct by using racist and homophobic slurs along with "insulting and degrading behaviour" during the New Zealand Today television interview.
During the meeting, Clark and local Police area commander Mike Bowman discussed efforts to combat crime including a new security camera system worth NZ$2.2 million.
[30] On 16 March 2024, Clark was invited to attend a United Fire Brigades' Association (UFBA) prize-giving dinner.
According to an independent investigation, Clark made disparaging remarks about volunteer firefighters and repeated personal attacks against one female MC.
He also disparaged young people in positions of authority, understood to be a dig at Gore mayor Ben Bell.
The council instead voted to send a letter of censure, require that Clark specifically apologise to the MC he offended, and ask that he delegate future public engagements to the deputy mayor.