The apology was emailed to staff and was additional to an earlier apology to a staff member who had complained about bullying.
The council said Ms Graham had also apologised to her executive leadership team, publicly through the Otago Daily Times, to Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich and members of a decision-making committee that considered the findings of a conduct investigation and that this committee received an apology "on behalf of the full council".
The chief executive technically apologised to all councillors, it appears.
Ms Graham has had a torrid week.
The ODT reported sources said she had been in the habit of labelling councillors "f...tards", among other insults.
She had also made disparaging remarks about parts of her organisation and staff, using language such as "f...... idiots" to describe them, a source said.
In an apology received by the ODT, Ms Graham said she had been unprofessional, had fallen into bad habits and she was committed to making improvements.
Cr Sophie Barker was one person left wondering last night precisely what the mysterious apology to councillors consisted of.
"I am very uncomfortable with others like the decision-making committee receiving any apology on my behalf as a councillor, especially when I don’t understand the circumstances or know the wording of any apology," she said.
"My preference for myself is to receive a personal apology direct to me.
"When someone has been hurt by another’s actions with trust and relationships damaged, it seems that a sincere face-to-face apology is the start of repairing any harm."
The ODT asked Ms Graham in a text message yesterday evening why there had not been an apology to all councillors directly.
She did not respond, although the council’s position has consistently been that the committee received her apology "on behalf of the full council".
This would leave a dozen people potentially in the position described by Cr Barker, it appears.
