Auckland councillor accuses colleagues of abusing staff after tragic deaths

North Shore councillor Richard Hills. Photo / Dean Purcell

An Auckland councillor has hit out at “unacceptable abuse” by elected members towards staff after the tragic deaths of two council employees.

North Shore councillor Richard Hills has written a post on his Facebook page to thank the hard work of council staff and contractors against a background of abuse from the public and elected members.

He told the Herald the post was brought on by the stress staff were under from the impact of Covid-19 and two staff members who lost their lives this month.

Jenny Gargiulo, a principal environment specialist, died on December 1 in Auckland’s Blockhouse Bay, police said. The coroner is looking into her death, which a spokesman said was suspected to be self-inflicted.

In his post, Hills said a member of the council leisure team lost his life in a similarly tragic way.

Hills said he knew Gargiulo put up with a lot from members of the public and elected members.

“Lots of questions will remain unanswered and I’m sure many of us will forever wonder what else we could’ve done and I know I can’t stop thinking about her since the moment I heard of her passing,” Hills said.

The second-term councillor echoed a council report that shows staff have been struggling with the pressures of the post-lockdown work environment, with concerns about their stress levels and wellbeing.

The report found a small number of complex cases reflecting issues such as stress, depression, anxiety and family relationship problems among the 6500 full-time equivalent staff at the council.

A report at Auckland Council has found staff struggling from Covid-19. Photo / File

“Many great people I’ve worked with have left already while those still here are doing their best with stretched resources and dealing with the general stress and pressure this year has brought on everyone,” Hills said.

“Council staff work way more hours than they should. I know contractors work under intense pressure to hot deadlines, yet we only hear about the ones that get delayed,” Hills said.

He acknowledged putting staff under stress at times, but said he had asked about staff wellbeing and mental health and met senior executives to address the issues and pushed to improve things.

“I’ve seen disgusting behaviour from councillors on the governing body, especially last term but also I’ve seen it when I was on a local board and have seen and still see terrible behaviour from some local board members now.

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“More than 100 staff over the years have mentioned to me the bad behaviour of elected members and asked for advice about it,” said Hills, who added “there will be zero tolerance from me now”.

Hills did not name the councillors he accused of abusing staff, saying: “I think they know who they are.”

He also said some elected members were extremely terrible towards staff over the Takapuna car park sale issue and degrading accusations had been made online by people who are supposed to be governors.

Former Auckland Council deputy mayor Penny Hulse. Photo / Supplied

In a response to Hill’s post, former deputy mayor Penny Hulse said the mayor and councillors need to call out bullying behaviour.

“Some of the elected member behaviour is completely unacceptable,” she said.

Mayor Phil Goff declined to comment.

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