Norman Withers for Mayor
From:
paul scott
Date:
Apr 12 21:15 UTC
Short link
During the early part of the campaign for Mayor last year, I felt confident
that Mayor Bob was a good choice.
We would be rid of collective voting, individual Councillors could represent
their community, and Bob being unaligned politically would be a boost for
democracy.
ANONYMOUS DONATIONS
I suppose we started to feel a little unsure when we heard that it was property
developers [ inner city] who were bank rolling Bob’s campaign.
He said he was distanced from these people and knew not who they were, but of
course neither he nor they could receive any benefit from the donations.
That is Bob was telling us that he received thousands of dollars for his
campaign and this was not benefit to him..
Is this deceitful, is it slick or is it just plain nonsense?
The anonymous funding farce ended with a fantastic statement from Dave
Henderson who said he
“had not yet contributed to Bob Parker campaign, but that he would be and that
donation would be anonymous”.
I can not think of anyone less anonymous than Dave Henderson.
OCTOBER Thursday : Gary hands a poisoned chalice to Bob
The negotiations for the Ngai Tahu building in Hereford street had been going
on for some time. These were secret negotiations.
They were especially secret during the voting period up to October 12th 2007,
because it was the intention of the Chief Executive and Gary Moore and Bob
Parker to make sure that the public knew nothing.
Our voting pattern was carefully nurtured by Bob, who told us that he could not
envisage a purchase of WOW offices for anything like $100 million.
In the only few hours when the last of the publics’ votes were spent, and
before any messy new Councillors arrived with democratic ideas, Bob and the
team called an urgent meeting.
They rammed through the most wasteful and idiotic ratification of the deal with
Ngai Tahu , which will see Ngai Tahu receive credit card rates of 16% on their
investment from the year 2010.
The proper rate of payment should be 8% or 4 million dollars per year.
The WOW offices are said to cost $105 million, half owned by Council and half
by Ngai Tahu, but there are whispers that the renovation costs will explode
out of hand.
By 2010 lending rates will be around 8%. The proper rate to Nghai Tahu should
therefore be $4million, not the $8 million [ and ever increasing ] which they
signed up to.
Only Helen Broughton challenged this utter disgrace, bamboozled they were
having been called to an extraordinary meeting only the night before, in
urgency.
The pretext of emergency was stated clearly by Bob, who said,
‘this was an opportunity that was urgent and would be lost if not acted upon
immediately.”
Bob Parker fronted to the public the untruth that prompted urgency.
There was no urgency other than to make sure the public had no say in the
matter and the new Councillors were not yet at the table.
This was Bob’s worst career move ever. It was ludicrously dishonest.
No other group has been identified of wanting the Ngai Tahu building.
This is what I mean when I assert that Parker is dishonest
Well now, there are three separate companies and corporate identities set up to
process this foppery, and they will effectively make sure that certain
Councillors’ salaries are bloated up, and make sure that no responsibility for
anything lies with Council.
This is is debt for your children and the new working class who are to be
placed inside the four avenues, and co-operate over wheelie bins and pay the
surcharges.
COLLECTIVE IRRESPONSIBILTY
Peter Luke [ Christchurch Press] is hot on the trail now, of the collective
responsibility Parker wishes to impose on Councillors.
This is that idea that all the Councillors have to present a unified front, the
center right front after the vote has been taken.
Bob’s idea of integrity is integrity to him.
Councillors do not represent the people they represent the cabinet style
executive he has built up.
At the same time as Council had applied to central Government to receive
Funding for the Council housing rentals.
Left to Bob, the Council would have received this funding , and raised the
rentals by 24% and told you nothing.
This is called collective responsibility.
It is dishonest .
Parker will come back to Christchurch and enforce his regime , and I can give
it you no more adequately than to repeat the famous words of Gail Sheriff, when
she announced her plan of how to silence opposition to the WOW building..
“You don’t tell them anything, just show them a photo when its done”
I repeat to readers I started as a supporter of Bob Parker.
The quotations are from memory, I do not have original scripts with me.
I do not deny Parker’s ability.
I do say he is institutionalised , and I do say his words to us mean nothing,
and that he has little regard for the people of this City, and that his
objective of rebuilding public confidence in the Council is an abject failure.