Councillor Ross Clow is understood to have raised bullying allegations in the mayoral office.
Councillor Ross Clow is understood to have raised bullying allegations in the mayoral office.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff is steering clear of an allegation his mayoral staff have bullied a member of his kitchen cabinet, Ross Clow.
Several sources have told the Herald that Clow raised the allegation of bullying by mayoral staff at a meeting called last week by Goff to clear the air with his council critics.
Clow said there was little he could say because the meeting operated under "Chatham House rules" where people are encouraged to speak their mind knowing it will stay confidential.
Clow, who chairs the finance committee, so is a member of the "kitchen cabinet" that comprises the chairs and deputy chairs of council's big committees, said he knew "how to handle bullying and that is to confront those who are overly assertive and demand it stops or beware/suffer the consequences".
"This I have done. Certain behaviour has changed, people move on to other jobs and I can confirm things are pretty good at this time," Clow said.
The Labour councillor would not divulge what he told councillors, but sources said he spoke about his own experience of bullying at the hands of mayoral staff.
"A concern of additional bullying from the mayoral office was raised," one source said.
Mayor Phil Goff is saying little about allegations of bullying by his mayoral staff.
A mayoral spokesman said Goff was not prepared to talk about issues raised in the meeting, but said he hasn't received a claim of bullying either formally or informally from Clow.
The spokesman said Goff takes any allegation of bullying seriously, but did not rule out an incident of robust debate or assertive behaviour between Clow and mayoral staff.
This is the second time bullying has been raised by councillors after a letter to Goff by nine of the 19 councillors this month expressing strong dissatisfaction about his leadership.
Councillors Sharon Stewart and Chris Fletcher have spoken out about a "culture of bullying" and disrespectful behaviour by Goff's team to some councillors.
Stewart claimed to have been bullied over the council's regional fuel tax of 11.5 cents a litre, which she opposed.
Fletcher said "bullying in any form is unacceptable to me", but made no specific claims and did not point the finger at the mayor.
After last Tuesday's meeting, Goff described the "free and frank" discussion as constructive and his critics were cautiously optimistic of patching up their differences.
CultureSafe NZ director Allan Halse said New Zealand has a culture where bullying has become normalised, saying the country is second place in the world for workplace bullying.
He said that in general councillors and council staff could engage in robust debate, but it became bullying "the moment you stop talking about a topic and make it personal to the individual".
"We have got a real macho attitude to behaviour towards how we should be treated and what we should accept. We accept behaviours that are completely not legitimate and behaviours that would not be accepted in some parts of the civilised world," Halse said.
