A Johnson County supervisor’s personal e-mails surfaced on Wednesday, exposing some surprising terminology aimed at an Iowa City constituent.

Supervisor Rod Sullivan is under fire after sending a vulgar message in response to a critical comment in an Iowa City Press Citizen article.

“F— you, Donny,” read the message to Yale Cohn on Sept. 20, according to the Press Citizen. Donny is the username Cohn posts under on Press Citizen articles.

On Wednesday, another e-mail surfaced from 2008, in which Sullivan threatened another Iowa City man, according to the same Sept. 24 article.

“How about Rod saves you a trip and comes over to personally kick your ass?” Sullivan wrote in an e-mail to Iowa City resident David Dowell. This e-mail was also in response to a critical post on an article.

City Councilor Connie Champion has never personally received an angry e-mail, but she said if she does have to deal with angry constituents, she gives herself time to think before responding.

“I don’t take direct e-mail from the city, so it gives you a cooling-off period if someone gets belligerent at you,” she said. “He is a very good supervisor, but I think his behavior is inappropriate.”

Champion said she hopes the discussion of the incident will end soon.

“It probably should blow over immediately — it is not worth discussing— he lost his temper, the other guy lost his temper,” she said. “Come on, we all lose our temper; that is the problem with e-mail, it requires an instant response before you get time to think about it.”

Tim Hagle, a UI associate professor of political science, said he is surprised at harsh content of the messages.

“It is one of those things that politicians will usually take care to avoid, but every once in a while someone does something untoward and that usually makes the news,” he said.

Though, because Sullivan has publicly apologized, Hagle doesn’t think the controversy will last.

“His best move was, in fact, to apologize, and he did that, so at this point it should end,” he said.

Supervisor Sally Stutsman, however, said she does not think this incident accurately reflects the general conduct of other Johnson County supervisors.

“What Rod does on his own personal account is his business,” she said. “Had I wished he would have used different words? Of course. But that is his own businesses. He has never used those words around me.”

Julie Andsager, a UI professor of journalism and mass communication said people often make comments in e-mails they wouldn’t otherwise make in person.

“It is easy to forget that they are corresponding with someone because they are not looking at someone directly,” she said.

The very nature of comment sections is a good example of how abrasive online communication can be, Andsager said.

“The comments section can turn into a heated argument and an abusive argument,” she said. “It is interesting how our reliance on technology is affecting our communication as a whole.”