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The first Pasifika woman elected to Auckland Council was forced to hand over control of a committee hearing to her deputy yesterday because of “safety reasons”, the move coming amid ongoing concerns that prompted her to strip her name and image from the side of her car.
Maungakiekie-Tāmaki councillor JosephineBartley posted a photo to Facebook of a tradesman removing the personal signwriting from her vehicle this morning. She made the post a day after safety concerns led to her passing on the leadership of a Regulatory and Safety Committee hearing.
“Yip it sucks,” Bartley wrote above a photo of the tradie at work.
“Can’t believe as public elected reps we have to almost hide ourselves, when we are about serving the public so we should be able to be public.
Bartley, who is seeking another council term at October’s local body elections, couldn’t immediately be contacted by the Herald, but the post mirrored others made recently by the seven-year council veteran.
A tradesman removes the image and name of Auckland councillor Josephine Bartley from her car yesterday amid concerns for her safety. Photo / Josephine Bartley via Facebook
Yesterday, Bartley posted that it had been “quite a stressful day”, with four hearings planned in the Regulatory and Safety Committee she chairs.
“But I had to vacate the chair and defer to our more than capable deputy chair Cr [Lotu] Fuli for one of the hearings, for safety reasons.”
She also referenced her decision to remove her name and face from her car.
“I think it’s a sad state of affairs but reality [is] that it isn’t safe for me or those around me to have my stickers on my car given it’s too easy to know where I live or my whereabouts.
“After 7 years of having my face on my car because I’m proud to represent this community, proud of the position I’ve made in life of being an Auckland councillor and being so visibly accessible to the community, but it’s time to take precautions.”
The Herald contacted Fuli over yesterday’s chairwoman switch, but the Manukau councillor referred comment to Bartley “as it’s a sensitive matter”.
A Herald request for details on what occurred at yesterday’s committee meeting was turned down as “the incident referred to relates to a confidential item being considered by the Regulatory and Safety Committee”, the council’s general manager of governance and engagement Lou-Ann Ballantyne said.
But the abuse of elected members and council staff in any way was “unacceptable”, with incidents referred to police when warranted, Ballantyne said.
“The council operates an elected member safety framework which provides advice, support and contact people for all elected members.
“This provides them with a framework of tools to use and is included in induction programmes for all councillors and local board members. It includes guidance on how councillors can keep themselves safe in meetings, in public and at home.”
The council also used non-regulatory controls such as these to ensure staff and elected members were safe, she said.
Councillor Josephine Bartley has previously spoken of receiving a lot of abuse online, some of it racist.
She’d been warned about the increased public scrutiny she’d face, Bartley told Newstalk ZB’s Real Life with John Cowan in April.
“They used to say to me, once you become a councillor you are in a fishbowl… you are in the public eye even more so – more subject to criticism and negativity.”
She continued to receive a lot of abuse online, some of it racist, she told Cowan.
“ I constantly go through, ‘Am I making a difference here? Am I making any impact? Am I pursuing my purpose? [Am I] doing what my community’s asking of me?’ And if the answers are all yes, then I’ll carry on.”
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
