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Dunedin City Council/Supplied
Barry Williams, Strath Taieri community board chairman.
A leaked letter has revealed what an Otago community board chairman said to a staff member over a pub food order mix-up.
It was Mother’s Day, and the Strath Taieri Hotel in Middlemarch was busy with patrons when an incident unfolded.
A mistake with a food order led to an outburst from Barry Williams, chairman of the local Strath Taieri community board, to the staff member who served him.
Stuff has been leaked the letter, which was sent to Dunedin City Council, and can reveal the wording of the abuse for the first time.
“Unhappy with his order, he proceeded to call her a ‘’stupid black bitch’’, more than once,’’ the letter of the incident, which has been leaked to Stuff, said.
That staff member, described in the letter as a ‘’non-white member of our community’’, has since left the town.
“We feel that a man of this calibre is not in a position to lead the town” the letter also said.
Williams declined comment on Tuesday afternoon.
John Bisset/Stuff
An aerial view of Middlemarch, 80kms from Dunedin.
The letter was sent a fortnight after the incident, and led to an independent investigation report. That report, by independent investigator Steph Dyhrberg, found a material breach of council’s code of conduct had occurred.
Last Tuesday, the matter was discussed in a non-public part of a council meeting, which cited the need to protect the identity of the victim.
Before council released their decision, Stuff contacted Williams after receiving a tip that the highest-polling candidate of the Strath Taieri 2022 election was the subject of the complaint.
‘’That’s quite on the cards,’’ Williams said.
Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
In January, Aucklanders had mixed answers when asked whether they think there is racism in New Zealand. (Video first published January 9, 2019)
‘’I haven’t been in this position before,’’ said Williams, who didn’t attend the closed-door meeting.
Later that day, council released its findings and a copy of the letter sent to Williams – which noted his apology for the incident and that council was inviting him to resign.
‘’Council is appalled by your behaviour’’, the letter to Williams said, which was signed by Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich.
The information released added that council ‘’will not be making any further comment on the matter’’.
Hamish McNeilly/Stuff
Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich at ÅtÄkou marae on the Otago Peninsula.
But the following day, Radich told RNZ ‘’it happened in a pub, and he didn’t even remember that it had happened, so it was just a relatively minor thing’’.
“’Certainly the people who overheard the incident didn’t report it or bring it to anyone’s attention,’’ Radich told RNZ, adding it was word-of-mouth which led to the complaint.
‘’Here he was out in a public setting and has lowered his standards so it’s only appropriate that we do censure him and it’s just unfortunate it has happened.’’
Despite the letter he signed suggesting Williams resign, Radich told RNZ: ‘’I think it’s not beyond the ability of anyone to come back from such a thing’’.
JAMES GUNN/Stuff
The Otago town of Middlemarch.
That led to a later statement where the first-term mayor apologised ‘’unreservedly’’ for those comments.
“’To be clear – a racist comment is always a racist comment,’’ Radich said in another statement.
On Wednesday, when asked by Stuff if he’d resigned, Williams replied: “Why the f… should I?’’
The next meeting of the Strath Taieri board was on September 14, in Hyde, about 110km from Dunedin.
The agenda for that meeting is yet to be released.
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