Burns made comments in the staff chat group, the membership of which is understood to have numbered at least 20 people, after another person outlined what Stewart had written. <\/p>\n
In a series of messages, Burns wrote: \u201comg\u201d; \u201cwhat a f***ing asshole\u201d; and \u201cso basically [she is] saying we don\u2019t need community newspapers\u201d.<\/p>\n
She asked one of her journalists, who was also involved in the conversation, \u201cSeriously… can you go comment and [put] her in her f***ing god dam place please\u201d; \u201csomeone needs to shoot her down\u201d and \u201cshe\u2019s relied on the paper forever f***ing cow\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Herald has asterixed the comments.<\/p>\n
Publisher Bo Burns.<\/p>\n
The journalist responded on the chat: \u201cYep, we all do not like her. Anyway, only 19 days and she\u2019s out of our lives forever\u201d.<\/p>\n
Burns responded: \u201cThis is not political, so go slam her\u201d. In another message, she wrote, \u201cf*** her\u201d.<\/p>\n
Two days later, Burns referenced a video in the group chat of Stewart speaking to the council. Accompanying that video were comments from Burns: \u201cOMG\u201d and \u201cso embarrassing\u201d.<\/p>\n
She also said: \u201cShe doesn\u2019t know what the f…. she is saying\u201d, and \u201cshe was the most embarrassing speaker\u201d. <\/p>\n
Burns apologises<\/p>\n
In a statement through her lawyer, Burns – currently the deputy chair of the Howick local board – apologised for the comments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI acknowledge that a set of private internal company staff messages were shared externally without consent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese messages were part of a private internal staff communication thread and, if read in isolation, could easily be taken out of context. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe comments contained in the internal messages were made out of frustration by myself as a community newspaper owner.<\/p>\n
\u201cI acknowledge Ms Stewart\u2019s service to the community and years of dedication. I apologise for the language used.<\/p>\n
\u201cI passionately believe that our community deserves to have local news coverage that serves their interests. This requires qualified staff (not AI), hard work, dedication and passion for our community. I believe that our community deserves more than just social media to keep them informed, updated and connected. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs this matter is currently under review, I will not be making any further comment at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, in an interview with the Herald, Burns outlined why she had rescued the then Howick and Pakuranga Times.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I heard last week it had gone into liquidation, I thought I just couldn\u2019t let the legacy go, I love this community. I was sitting there saying, \u2018Oh my god, there\u2019s no voice or platform\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought, I don\u2019t think people actually realise how it\u2019s connected the community, the groups, the community leaders, the schools … everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart responds<\/p>\n
Retiring Auckland councillor Sharon Stewart. Photo \/ RNZ<\/p>\n
Approached for comment yesterday, Sharon Stewart called the group chat comments \u201cparticularly nasty\u201d, \u201creally terrible\u201d, and not language that she would ever use.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnybody who knows me knows that I don\u2019t like that sort of stuff. I\u2019m really quite upset to see that somebody could even think about talking about me like that because it\u2019s just not my way. It\u2019s just not on.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as I\u2019m concerned, I just want to continue enjoying my retirement with my grandchildren and my husband. I always want to be there for the community and help the community any which way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Referring back to her original comment on Facebook, she said social media was a \u201cvery important part of our way of life now\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m all for media – all media is good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elected members of the Auckland Council – including local board members – abide by a code of conduct while acting in their roles.<\/p>\n
The code covers myriad topics, including offensive behaviour and harassment. Harassment includes personal insults.<\/p>\n
Stewart said she did not plan to make a complaint or take it up with Burns directly. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll I can say is I want a happy life and to enjoy my retirement. I certainly didn\u2019t expect anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
In May, the Eastern Times itself marked the news of Stewart\u2019s retirement with a piece about her time on the council.<\/p>\n
The story started: \u201cFor the last three decades, whenever an east Auckland resident had a problem in their neighbourhood, whether it was a cracked footpath, a dangerous tree, or flooding due to blocked drains, there was one person they knew they could call to get it sorted out \u2013 Sharon Stewart.”<\/p>\n
Stewart told the Times at the time: \u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed doing it, mainly for the community, and I\u2019ve just been very much a grassroots type of councillor.\u201d<\/p>\n
She has represented Howick alongside former MP Maurice Williamson, who is standing again for the council. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very supportive of Maurice Williamson,\u201d Stewart told the Times in May. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a superb councillor and one of the better ones I\u2019ve ever worked with in my 30-odd years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart has also been supporting another candidate, Barry Jensen, in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
Sharon Stewart has represented the Howick ward on the Auckland Council for many years. Photo \/ Hustin Hu<\/p>\n
Burns standing for council<\/p>\n
Bo Burns is standing for re-election as a local board member, but also for a bigger prize – a seat at the full Auckland Council table, representing the Howick ward. It is the role that Stewart has now, alongside Williamson.<\/p>\n
Burns has her own website in which she outlines her values as a born, raised and educated local.<\/p>\n
Among the principles that she says she stands for are \u201cfamily and community first\u201d; \u201ccore services delivered on time and within budget\u201d, \u201cbetter, more reliable transport\u201d; \u201csensible growth\u201d; and \u201crespect for our seniors\u201d.<\/p>\n
And on the Vote Auckland website, she says it\u2019s \u201ctime for change\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBorn and raised locally, I know our community\u2019s needs and with over 23 years as a local business owner, my strength is communication, making money, saving money and knowing how to execute plans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voting closes at noon this Saturday for the local body elections; preliminary results – around 80-90% of the vote – will be known later on Saturday. <\/p>\n
Sharon Stewart, meanwhile, is leaving the Auckland Council as its longest-serving councillor, after 30 years in public office. <\/p>\n
\u201cI particularly want to acknowledge the role Sharon has played in strengthening Auckland\u2019s emergency preparedness and response capabilities since the extreme weather events of early 2023,\u201d Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said last month.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will always remember her advocacy for better management of stormwater catchments and streams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand\u2019s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stewart had suggested in a Facebook comment that \u201csocial media seems to be doing a good job. I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1443,95,51,51002,51003,19956,5205,38290,5276,51004,36601,2936,1073,111,43,21031,139,69,26268,51005,8667,1440,6934],"class_list":["post-62274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-about","tag-and","tag-auckland","tag-bo","tag-burns","tag-candidate","tag-council","tag-councillor","tag-cow","tag-expletiveladen","tag-fing","tag-insider","tag-media","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newspaper","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-publisher","tag-rant","tag-retiring","tag-sharon","tag-stewart"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}