Councils say no to snooping on emails

Chief executives from councils in the lower North Island see no reason for intercepting emails – a practice Horowhenua District Council’s boss uses to ‘‘protect’’ his staff.

In an audit report, Horowhenua council chief executive David Clapperton was shown to be intercepting emails from members of the public, Horowhenua’s mayor and councillors.

He would block emails, redirect them, or let them continue to their intended destinations, which he said was ‘‘necessary to protect my employees so they can carry out their roles safely without undue interference, inappropriate criticism and racist slurs’’.

In some cases, the council did not inform people that their emails were being intercepted, according to multiple sources.

Some emails that were sent by residents to councillors – not the council – were among those intercepted by Clapperton.

Chief executives from Manawatu and Tararua district councils, and Horizons Regional Council, said there was no reason to intercept emails at their councils.

‘‘I don’t anticipate a case where we would need to intercept emails,’’ Manawatu District Council chief executive Richard Templer said.

Tararua District Council chief executive Blair King said he did not intercept emails, but people with a history of sending abusive emails to council staff would be blocked.

However, they would be notified of this, he said.

To make communication succinct, the council’s practice was for councillors to include him and the mayor in emails that were being sent to council staff, King said.

This was also the case for staff members sending emails to councillors, as it was common courtesy, he said.

Horizons Regional Council chief executive Michael Mccartney said no emails were intercepted by him and councillors were free to email staff as they pleased.

As with other councils, Mccartney did block people who were often abusive, but they were informed, he said.

Despite other chief executives seeing no reason to intercept emails, nine out of 10 Horowhenua councillors support Clapperton’s decision to keep tabs on who writes to council staff.

Questioned about why they still support Clapperton, councillors agreed intercepting emails was good practice if it ensured the safety of council staff.

Cr Barry Judd said Clapperton was doing a good job and he had a requirement to look out for the health and safety of his staff.

If that meant he stopped abusive emails by intercepting them, then that was OK, he said.

Cr Victoria Kaye-simmons said Clapperton was doing a great job and it was his role to protect his staff.

Cr Ross Brannigan said he totally supported Clapperton.

‘‘The CE’S job is to protect his staff. It’s a health and safety issue.’’

None of them mentioned emails intercepted by Clapperton that were not sent to council staff.

In an earlier statement, Clapperton said he had not breached privacy in any way.