Mayor has ‘no regrets’ over signing off email ‘go f— yourself’
The mayor of a coastal town in New Zealand says he has no regrets about signing off an email response to a constituent's query with: "Go f--- yourself, kind regards, Len."
"If people were to say this is not the language or decorum you expect from a mayor, I would take that criticism on the chin," Thames-Coromandel District Mayor Len Salt told Stuff.
"But I have always said to the council, and the community, I will protect them. In a climate of increasing hostility towards elected representatives and their staff, I believe it was necessary."
Salt said he believed the email, sent on July 10, 2023, came from a person associated with Sovereign Citizens, a group that is growing in New Zealand. Sociologist Paul Spoonley said the group's right-wing extremist views about elect...