Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Mayor slams social media 'personal abuse'

By Victoria White
Hawkes Bay Today·
4 Aug, 2017 10:05 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

ADVERSE EFFECT: Online abuse against Napier Mayor Bill Dalton ((left) and council chief executive Wayne Jack is taking its toll. PHOTO/FILE

ADVERSE EFFECT: Online abuse against Napier Mayor Bill Dalton ((left) and council chief executive Wayne Jack is taking its toll. PHOTO/FILE

Social-media attacks on his council have caused Napier Mayor Bill Dalton to seriously consider moving away from the city when he retires at the end of his term.

Earlier this week Mr Dalton sent an email to all 12 councillors about the "personal abuse" directed at himself and council chief executive Wayne Jack, warning that Napier City could be the first council destroyed by social media.

The council has come under increasing fire on social media this year, with residents taking to websites and Facebook to express their views on council plans and projects.

While he expected a certain level of criticism as a politician, Mr Dalton said those comments had become personal and were taking a toll on councillors and their families. It had reached such an extent that he and his wife would "consider our options" when thinking about where to retire.

"My wife was in tears this afternoon. At the end of the day I'm a politician and I have to wear it, that's what it is - but when there's a concerted attack ...

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's not just us who live [in Napier]. Our wives live here and these people [on social media] somehow think that this personal abuse doesn't have an effect on our families - and it does."

While other councils dealt with criticism, he thought that what Napier City was experiencing was unique.

"What we've got in Napier is personal abuse and personal bullying and I don't see that around [New Zealand].

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"At the end of the day other people need to accept that just mindless abuse actually achieves absolutely nothing."

Mr Dalton said he did not think the personal criticism was fair, when he and Mr Jack were only two members of a council with more than 500 staff and had called for councillors to support Mr Jack as their chief executive.

"What happened was, Wayne came to me the other day and said, 'I've just had a phone call from my wife, she was in tears because of the personal abuse'," Mr Dalton said.

"That night I sat down and wrote to all my councillors and said, 'he is coming under unfair levels of abuse and we need to stand by our man'."

Mr Jack's term as chief executive - which he started in 2013 - has recently finished and the council is advertising his role. He is understood to have reapplied for the job.

Mr Dalton said his call to support Mr Jack had nothing to do with that recruitment process.

"The claim that by calling for support of my CE, who's my sole employee, to suggest that that somehow may render me ineligible to choose the next CE for Napier City Council is nonsense.

"It was a case of me, as a responsible employer, saying to my councillors to stand by our only employee.

"If an employer is not allowed to ask for support of their employee there's something wrong."

Other councillors have come out in defence of the two men.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Although elected representatives expected to take some heat, councillor Tony Jeffery said it was "quite cowardly" to attack council staff.

"They've gone through the strategic realignment last year and this year they've got to vacate their buildings - we can see the pressure they're under.

"I'm not scared to call a spade a spade but there's a line you don't cross - you don't personally attack employees of council."

Mr Jeffery addedthat if the council was not happy with the CE, they had ways to address that.

Councillor Keith Price said he did not think Mr Dalton's call for support of Mr Jack showed any bias, rather that it implied "we should support him as our CEO but we should be very open and neutral as to the filling of the vacancy".

"We've got to support him because he's being ambushed a bit ... but I didn't take it as supporting his reemployment."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Councillor Annette Brosnan said she was disappointed the email had been made public, as she felt the mayor should have been able to speak with councillors in confidence.

"You take a certain amount of flak as a public servant ... you should be able to express that to your colleagues and look for support from your colleagues," she said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay TodayUpdated

'A bloody beating': Police find victim unsteady on his feet at scene of fatal attack

20 May 06:00 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Mōrere Hot Springs to reopen next week after being shut for two months

20 May 05:03 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

'Tragic loss': Talented teen rugby player killed in crash mourned

20 May 04:27 AM

The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

'A bloody beating': Police find victim unsteady on his feet at scene of fatal attack

'A bloody beating': Police find victim unsteady on his feet at scene of fatal attack

20 May 06:00 AM

Javon Aranui was rushed to hospital in an ambulance but died the next day.

Mōrere Hot Springs to reopen next week after being shut for two months

Mōrere Hot Springs to reopen next week after being shut for two months

20 May 05:03 AM
'Tragic loss': Talented teen rugby player killed in crash mourned

'Tragic loss': Talented teen rugby player killed in crash mourned

20 May 04:27 AM
Police arrive at fatal crash, charge survivor with firearms offences

Police arrive at fatal crash, charge survivor with firearms offences

20 May 04:06 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP