Bunting – it has been absolute hell
A councillor who sent a lewd message to a journalist has asked for the outcome of his disciplinary hearing to be made public.
Hamilton city councillor Mark Bunting said it had been ‘‘absolute hell’’ since his Tuesday night message to freelance journalist Angela Cuming.
The message showed a road sign which made a crude reference to Jesus, playing on Cuming’s name.
‘‘[It has been] absolutely horrible, but I’m not trying to draw any sympathy because I know I started this,’’ Bunting said.
‘‘It’s what you get when you do a dumb thing.
‘‘It’s probably been just as bad for the other lady as well.’’
Cuming said at the time she felt horrible when the message came through, and put her head in her hands and cried.
Bunting had posted an apology on Twitter and Cuming later posted screenshots of tweeted replies from followers who made negative comments about her.
Bunting said the incident is not one he’ll forget in a hurry.
He will face the city council’s complaints committee today and said he asked for the findings to be made public.
The complaints committee is meant to act as a facilitator and is generally made up of the mayor, deputy mayor and one elected member chosen by their colleagues.
The committee has a range of options for resolving complaints, according to council’s code of conduct.
The most serious recommend that council impose a sanction on the elected member – such as stripping them of a chair position or committee membership, an apology, or censure.
Options which don’t need council approval include ‘‘informal discussion with the elected member/s involved’’, counselling, and training.
There is also the option of referring the complaint to an independent resolution panel.
Council’s complaints committee meetings are not open to public or to the media.