Email saga prompted by Duffy
Horowhenua’s former mayor instigated the vetting of thencouncillor and current mayor Michael Feyen’s emails.
A peer review of an internal audit report revealed former mayor Brendan Duffy was behind the decision to screen emails from Feyen and councillor Ross Campbell that were sent to Horowhenua District Council from April 30, 2015, until the end of his mayoralty last year.
An email sent to councillors by Duffy at the time said messages from Feyen and Campbell were unacceptable. ‘‘I have a responsibility to protect my employees, and the employees of the organisation.’’
Duffy said he talked in detail with council chief executive David Clapperton after a ‘‘less than appropriate’’ email was sent to all staff, and Duffy ‘‘arranged’’ for the two councillors’ emails to be vetted. ‘‘Any message will need to be approved for release by the CEO or myself.’’
Duffy’s role in the council’s controversial email-screening practices – now abandoned – was highlighted in KPMG’S peer review, released on Thursday.
Feyen said he did not send inappropriate emails. He said he could only assume Duffy was unhappy about emails Feyen wrote questioning council procedures. One email Feyen sent included about 160 questions relating to codes of conduct and council procedures, among other issues, he said.
Duffy told the Manawatu Standard in July he was aware to some degree of email blocking carried out by Clapperton during his term, but had not seen any offensive emails that prompted these decisions.
Duffy confirmed on Thursday that he had Feyen and Campbell added to a list of people whose emails were intercepted by Clapperton.
Duffy said he supported Clapperton’s decision to intervene if it protected council staff, but Duffy did not call for anybody else to be added to the list. ‘‘The CEO quite rightly took the course of action that he saw appropriate.’’
A statement from council spokeswoman Lacey Wilson said throughout the six-year period that emails were ‘‘quarantined’’, it had only been applied to nine individuals for varying amounts of time. Until Thursday, at least one person’s emails were still being blocked.
Horowhenua resident Christine Toms said her emails were intercepted without her knowledge. In a statement last month, Clapperton said Toms was told why.
On Thursday, after learning her emails were no longer being blocked, Toms said her complaint still stood.
The KPMG report recommended the council stop intercepting emails. After releasing the report, the council halted the practice.
Feyen said this was a positive move, but many people may have had their emails blocked in the past without knowing. ‘‘The matter hasn’t been resolved.’’
The most shocking part of the draft report was the revelation of email interceptions and that wasn’t resolved in KPMG’S report, Feyen said.
The draft audit report said the practice was ‘‘extremely high risk’’, but the KPMG report said it could not determine what risk it posed as evidence supporting the report’s findings was not produced. Additionally, KPMG said commenting on blocking or intercepting emails was outside the scope for an internal audit relating to sensitive expenditure.
In a statement on Wednesday, Clapperton defended the vetting and said he was acting out of concern for his staff and would do so again ‘‘in a heartbeat’’.