Hi folks - I have not participated in this forum before but have been reading
the various comments for a couple of months now. Chrissie's email has spurred
me to reply on a couple of issues.
There seems to be an insinuation that everyone is standing under a particular
political leaning, be it left or right and that it is somehow unhealthy and
misleading for someone to declare themselves independent, or non-aligned, as
Bob Parker calls it. I assure you, anyone standing under the banner of
Independent Citizens is just that, an independent citizen.
Within the soon to be announced group of people standing as Independent
Citizens for Riccarton Wigram, our personal politics has never been discussed
and nor will it be. I suspect however that we would cover most of the current
political parties. Personally and as many would know, I was involved with the
National Party years ago but for many years now I have had no allegiance to any
particular political persuasion. Certainly our group of Independent Citizens in
Riccarton Wigram has no tie whatsoever with any Wellington based political
party and will in fact have little involvement with people standing for other
Wards under the Independent Citizen banner. Any money spent promoting ourselves
here in the Ward for the coming election will be "entirely" our own money.
Chrissie makes the claim that Councillors rarely attend community meetings etc.
I refute this entirely. Both Helen and I along with all of the Riccarton Wigram
Board members are regular attendees of Resident Group Meetings, Community
Liaison Meetings, ANZAC services, church services, sporting events and the list
goes on. Personally I am involved in a huge range of community groups including
Rotary, historic building trusts, community support organisations etc, etc. I
assure you I make every possible effort to be informed about as many issues as
possible both in the Ward and City wide.
Chrissie claims that Council only has one spokesman - the Mayor I assume she
means. With all due respects to Chrissie, again this is far from reality. Most
current Councillors have been seen publicly over the term with a view on one or
another particular issue. Personally I have now twice made the Network News
along with a range of print media representing the City's view on the lack of
government funding for our roads.
It is my view that the people of Christchurch know their local Councillor
better now than they have ever done in the past. To say councillors are
invisible is just plain rubbish.
As I come to the end of my first term as a City Councillor and only knowing the
workings of previous Councils as a ordinary citizen, I have to say that
currently the city is very well served by the dedication and commitment of the
fourteen people who sit around the council table. We all come from very
different backgrounds and bring a wide range of views. The debate is always
informed and robust and the decisions made, in my view, are generally in the
best interest of the whole city.
Bob Shearing
Councillor - Christchurch City