Increasing incidents of "challenging" public behaviour are expected by the Waitaki District Council "driven by negative public sentiment" around rising rates and cost-of-living pressures, a committee report states.
There were also informal reports of council staff being accosted at supermarkets and schools, elected representatives were told this week.
A health and safety update prepared for a performance, audit and risk committee meeting on Tuesday outlined incidents which had taken place during the first three months of this year.
One reported incident involved "aggressive behaviour" by a member of the public during a meeting at the council offices with Mayor Mel Tavendale and councillor Sven Thelning.
Mrs Tavendale said she tried to have an open-door policy with members of the public.
"There was probably some risk as it was quite an aggressive meeting."
The man eventually had to be asked to leave.
For the meeting in question, the door was left open and she had Cr Thelning with her to address the perceived risk.
She wanted to "find safe ways to carry out our job and carry it out well".
"We are anticipating an increase in incidents involving challenging public behaviour, driven by negative public sentiment around rising rates and cost-of-living pressures. Strong procedures around de-escalation, follow-up support, safe work design and lockdown protocols are our priority," a document prepared by officers for the meeting stated.
Concerns were also raised by director of support services Paul Hope that incidents which left staff feeling unsafe were "dramatically underreported".
There were "a lot of informal reports" of staff being "accosted", including at supermarkets and schools, which were "not captured at the moment".
They were working with a health and safety adviser to ensure measures were taken to deal with the issue.
Addressing elected representatives present, he said while councillors were not employees, they were part of the organisation and should "feel free" to speak to officers if they felt unsafe.
There were also three incidents reported to management involving a staff member being photographed and put on social media while they were on duty, "with subsequent negative public commentary" and "related jeering incidents", councillors were told.
