Mayor Sophie Barker told Cr Ong he appeared to be breaching his obligations under the Dunedin City Council’s code of conduct, as well as not understanding his legal duties as an employer representative.
She asked him to immediately remove critical comments online about council chief executive Sandy Graham.
‘‘I consider your actions in regard to the chief executive and staff relations to be extremely serious,’’ Ms Barker said.
‘‘I am extremely concerned about your behaviour,’’ Ms Barker said.
Cr Ong yesterday refused to take down his comments.
Asked if he intended to take the mayor’s warning seriously, he said: ‘‘Most certainly and repeated warnings ... generally are followed by disciplinary, authoritative action.’’
The mayor’s comments were in an email to him — he shared the email with the Otago Daily Times 11 minutes after receiving it.
An independent investigator has started looking into Cr Ong’s conduct after an email he sent this month about a staff member.
He has since made a series of provocative statements, such as suggesting without evidence the complaint, lodged by Ms Graham, was an attempt to force him out as a councillor.
Ms Graham said this week she had changed his access arrangements to the Civic Centre and she needed to put ‘‘temporary measures in place to ensure a safe work space for staff’’.
This was disputed by Cr Ong.
Yesterday, he posted on social media video of himself with duct tape over his mouth.
In her email, Ms Barker highlighted various clauses of the code of conduct.
This included that elected members would ‘‘respect the impartiality and integrity of officials’’ and ‘‘treat all employees with courtesy and respect and avoid publicly criticising any employee’’.
Ms Barker also referred to some councillor training sessions she said Cr Ong had not completed.
A briefing about employment law in New Zealand could be arranged to ‘‘facilitate your understanding of the legal obligations of employers’’.
