Update 16.8.13
The full nominations list is published today at
DCC nominations —All the mops, brooms and feather dusters
So far . . .
14.8.13 Mayoral candidates expand to five
14.8.13 Cr Bill Acklin (stadium supporter) not standing
10.8.13 DCC nominations on a par with 2010
19.6.13 Cr Syd Brown, FSD Chairman (stadium supporter) leaving council
8.6.13 Electoral challenge to Brown intensifies
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Mayoral candidates confirmed:
Hilary Calvert (independent), Mayor Dave Cull (Greater Dunedin), Kevin Dwyer (independent), Aaron Hawkins (Green Party), Andrew Whiley (independent)
Mayoral nominations not received:
Olivier Lequeux (independent), Cr Lee Vandervis (independent)
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Central Ward candidates confirmed:
David Benson-Pope (independent), Cr John Bezett (independent), Hilary Calvert (independent), Ali Copeman (Greater Dunedin), Kevin Dwyer (independent), Pete George (indendent), Aaron Hawkins (Green Party), Francisco Hernandez (independent), Tat Loo (?), Cr Jinty MacTavish (Greater Dunedin), Kevin Neill (?), Neville Peat (independent), Deputy Mayor Chris Staynes (Greater Dunedin), Cr Teresa Stevenson (independent), Cr Richard Thomson (Greater Dunedin), Warren Voight (?), Andrew Whiley (independent)
Mosgiel-Taieri Ward candidates confirmed:
Martin Dillon (independent), Mike Lord (Greater Dunedin), Cr Kate Wilson (Greater Dunedin)
Waikouaiti Coast-Chalmers Ward candidates confirmed:
Cr Andrew Noone (independent)
Stepping down:
Cr Bill Acklin, Cr Syd Brown, Cr Fliss Butcher, Cr Neil Collins, Cr Colin Weatherall
Nominations not received:
Calvin Fisher (union official), Doug Hall (businessman), Cr Paul Hudson (independent), Irene Mosley (Greater Dunedin), Letisha Nicholas (Greater Dunedin), Cr Lee Vandervis (independent)
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Related Post and Comments:
12.8.13 ELECTION NEWS: Stadium councillors getting the message!
6.8.13 Busted hacks! Media rates Cull and shiny-arsed suit brigade
3.8.13 Nominations, TWO WEEKS to go !!!
24.7.13 DCC / DCHL shake up !!!
17.7.13 Dunedin, ‘small government’ —Calvert
15.7.13 Delta, Carisbrook, Fubar Stadium —Councillors “weak”, or worse
12.7.13 Hudson, DCC (ex DCHL)
22.5.13 Dunedin mayoralty and the Q-town heavies
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
What if? Dunedin... 
Copied from another thread:
Dot
Submitted on 2013/06/08 at 11:12 am
Having read in today’s ODT that the good Lord is to stand in the Mosgiel Taieri ward for the greater Dunedin crew. Wilson will be a goneburger. The good Lord will capture the rural vote and Syd the Mosgiel vote. Syd has done an outstanding job in Mosgiel and will fly in. Wilson has not been seen in the area since the last election with all her promises. The good Lord and Syd. Two national party icons. They will shit in next election.
****
Elizabeth
Submitted on 2013/06/08 at 11:37 am | In reply to Dot.
Dot, wonder if Mike Lord is really one of Eion’s men ???
(Grater Dunedin is a loose amalgum)
Don’t think so. The Greater Dunedin do not appear to be the flavour of the month with Eion. Syd might be though. Hope so.
Perhaps a mafioso shootout before October to thin the tartan blood and render offal.
How can SC Syd Brown possibly have the time to remain on council looking after the interests of his ward? I’ve just driven past his sub-divisions and he’s been a very busy man just looking after his own interests during the current reign. There must be a lot of rate- and rent-payers in Mosgiel benefiting from all of this since they keep voting him back in.
I guess there’s still time for asset stripping, stadiums, professional rugby, pokies, horsies, hotels, big oil and the Queenstown stakeholders. The other SCs are just their to prop up the votes to make all of this and more possible.
Syd should do the right thing and announce his retirement now.
Come on Anon. You have just told us how successful Syd has been in business. That is just the man we need to lead council. If he can get Mosgiel’s building industry cranked up , what could he do for the rest of Dunedin. Jobs is what we want and Syd is sure delivering that in his ward. What has Wilson and the Greater Dunedin done for Mosgiel ?
My memory isn’t that short-lived. I’m not going to flip-flop just because Allied Press and its various mediums paint a pretty election picture every three years. I hope, Dot, that you genuinely believe in what you are doing because the wider issue should be about electing people who work in the best interests of the wider community.
Still, all the best.
Anon you talk about the wider community. Mosgiel is part of that wider community, and Syd is the only one that has done anything for it. The rest have raped and pillaged Mosgiel’s ratepayers and done nothing for Mosgiel. Name one of your mates from over the hill that has stood up for Mosgiel. The only new thing we have gained is a new drainage system in Hagart Alexander Drive.
Dot – thanks to Syd’s stadium there’s no money for anyone – if Syd’s getting you new drainage systems it means there’s less than nothing for the rest of us – the city dug up the end of my road 6 months ago, they haven’t been back to reseal it yet, maybe they never will.
Absolutely agree with your description of what has been done, but councillors are all representatives of the whole community regardless of the ward that votes them in. That damage is why many are so focused on replacing the remaining Stadium Councillors and now some of Greater Dunedin. Much of the damage was done for glory projects and stakeholder interests that have lined pockets of a few. Only a fraction has been focused on essential services.
But he no longer needs to be a councillor I am uncomfortable with to continue being the businessman you are comfortable with. So he should step down to avoid any confusion between his public position and personal interests. Agreed the dilemma is choosing who to support but for Dunedin as a whole it is something more ward voters should be getting involved with.
The changes to the wards have allowed Stadium Councillors Syd Brown and Andrew Noone to remain in power, mostly due to a small number of interested voters being able to hijack the election, yet continues to deny anyone else the right to vote for or against them.
Syd Brown and Andrew Noone believed I wanted to pay for a stadium and increased parking costs, among other disruptive and destructive decisions, but I was not able to affect their position on council. What I want is to able to leave them blank at the next election and vote for someone else.
A non-binding vote of confidence indicator beside each current councillor would be a wonderful gift on the election paper.
Anonymous. You say that you were unable vote for or against to affect their position on council because of the ward system. Where were you and your mates during the representational review, that was open to everybody to make a submission on how the wards system should be structured. It is people like you that moan and groan that you are unable to vote for or against Noone or Brown, but never took the opportunity to take part in the representational review, to put your concerns across for the need for change. It is time people got off their arse and took part in council activities, rather than sit back and moan and groan after the event.
I’m interested in Anonymous’s suggestion of “A non-binding vote of confidence indicator beside each current councillor”. I’d like to see Yes/No/Don’t Care boxes to tick, beside the names. That way the highly polarising ones would get a balanced vote. At present all we as individuals can do is leave their name blank, which does not indicate strong distrust / dislike/ disapproval.
I was involved, thank you for your concern Whippet. I absolutely agree with you of course. It was an outcome that disappointed but even then it was difficult to determine what the agendas were, particularly with this council that embraces obfuscation at every turn. You must remember how it played out in the media though. The option of merging the Dunedin wards was promoted as a positive change for voters, while keeping the other two wards was presented as sympathetic to those communities. In my opinion it was a strategic decision to ensure key figures remained in power and continued to make it difficult for them to be replaced. There was still so much more work for them to do.
Of course a long-standing problem is that many people do not get involved with politics, even though it can dramatically affect their livelihood. Last election there was a flicker of hope but still people dismissed their right to vote because they thought it wouldn’t make a difference or just plain couldn’t be bothered. I’m hoping people have had time to reflect on the decisions that have passed since then and are thinking more about the coming election.
### ODT Online Sun, 9 Jun 2013
New board pay method criticised
By Tim Miller – The Star
Dunedin Community Board members are concerned recent cuts to their salaries are a threat to democracy. Some board members spoken to by The Star said no-one put themselves forward to be on a community board for the money, but they were divided on whether decreases would put people off standing for election. The New Zealand Remuneration Authority recently published the new salaries, following a review of the system that pays elected members of local bodies. Under the changes, board members will be paid a base rate depending on the area they serve, down from the current rate of $8166 for a member. Deputy chairmen, who were paid $9190, will now be paid the same as other members.
Read more
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WHAT DOES IT PAY? (via ODT)
Community Board Member Pay Rate 2013/2014
Chalmers … $7500
Mosgiel-Taieri … $8500
Otago Peninsula … $7500
Saddle Hill … $7500
Strath Taieri … $7000
Waikouaiti … $7500
Community Board Chairperson Pay Rate 2013/2014
Chalmers … $15,000
Mosgiel-Taieri … $17,000
Otago Peninsula … $15,000
Saddle Hill … $15,000
Strath Taieri … $14,000
Waikouaiti … $15,000
Ch39 says Irene Mosley will stand for council, in follow-up to her role as project manager at the Neurological Foundation NZ.
(26.5.12) http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/6991015/Spreading-neurosurgery-message
(1.12.12) http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10851220
GRATER DUNEDIN . . . (standing with GD really means standing for nothing)
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### ODT Online Sat, 15 Jun 2013
Mosley to stand for city council
Home » News » Dunedin
By Debbie Porteous
Greater Dunedin yesterday named Mrs Mosley as its latest candidate to contest October’s local body elections. She will stand in the Central Ward. Greater Dunedin group chairman Cr Richard Thomson said Mrs Mosley’s selection was based on her reputation in the community for getting things done.
Read more
Raising money for a heart-strings campaign is not the same as running council.
Yawn. Double yawn – Grater Dunedin.
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### ch9.co.nz June 27, 2013 – 6:42pm
Neurosurgery project manager to put skills to use
As Project Manager for the Neurosurgery Campaign, Irene Mosley assisted the community to help keep neurosurgery facilities in the city. Now she wants to take the skills she’s learned to the next level – and help build bridges between council and the community.
Video
Well Mrs Mosley will most likely suddenly stop being someone ‘who gets things done’ if she is going to go with the Gormless Greater Dunedin Crew. She also will have no interest in transparency or accountability for the incompetent on council and she will grovel to the real powerholders on council and will bow down and let the real powerholders continue their agenda of asset stripping the city to pay for their incompetence. Just follow Cull and Thomson.
ooooh there’s some good news!
Along with the great sense of relief that Syd can retire as a rich developer after his time at Council, comes the fear of what Syd’s succession plan really consists of… yes, Citizens, the gaping wounds and infected blood fresh from the stadium wars!
I dithered, he’s not really worth a new post – and so to bury him at this thread.
It’s opportune for Sydney to skate out now before his connections with professional rugby, ORFU, Carisbrook, infrastructure, the new stadium [remember Syd’s council resolutions ??? hell, they’re throttling the council], Delta, DCHL, DCTL, CST, racing, a pony club, pokie trusts [and much much more] are examined under a microscope.
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### ODT Online Wed, 19 Jun 2013
Syd Brown to make way for new blood
By Chris Morris
Long-serving Dunedin City Councillor Syd Brown is stepping down from local politics, but has no regrets about backing the city’s most controversial project. Cr Brown yesterday confirmed he would not seek re-election at this year’s local body elections, meaning October would mark the end of a five-term career spanning 15 years. That included stints as a councillor, deputy mayor and chairman of the council’s finance, strategy and development committee. He backed the council decision to build Forsyth Barr Stadium, and remains a staunch supporter. Cr Brown said yesterday his only regret was that some of those involved in the debate had resorted to personal attacks.
Read more
Syd Brown will not run in this year’s elections.
Anonymous, is that a fact, or a suggestion directed to a higher place for Divine Intervention?
Well he announced it in the Oddity, apparently he thinks the council needs new blood – he also says that the fact that he finally got all the development rights he wants for his subdivision has absolutely nothing to do with his leaving – why he would feel the need to say that I have no idea.
Re Brown’s subdivision, see the glint of his gold tooth.
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### ODT Online Thu, 18 Jul 2013
Council road naming exception wins the day
By Chris Morris
A Dunedin city councillor has come out on top after colliding with the Dunedin City Council’s own road naming policy. And the victory by Cr Syd Brown at this week’s infrastructure services committee meeting has prompted a call for a policy rethink. The call came after councillors at this week’s meeting voted to allow 14 new Scottish-themed road names at Cr Brown’s 10ha, 212-lot Highland Park subdivision in Mosgiel.
Read more
The obnoxious piece of council trash.
Picks up phone, dials. “Hello, is that EnviroWay?”
“Yes, how may we help?”
“Please, could you collect the black bag deposited outside Cull’s office in the Octagon, soon as. It might be cantankerous and kick a bit!”
The purposefulness of the crusher will deal to that.
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Yes Mike, what possible link could there be between obtaining the permissions for his subdivisions, and being on council?
He is certainly right about needing ‘new blood’. In fact a lot of blood. He and his weirdo mates have just about drained the last drop from the city. Good time to leave, just before the bailiffs turn up. What, my fault? Never! I only came here for the good of the city. And just because I indulge in a bit of property development requiring some storm water accommodation, is it my fault that it’s the city’s duty to supply that? No, I am sure that in the fullness of time all will come to see the stadium as the greatest thing that has happened in my time on council, and I will be thanked.
Went in with a $250,000 piece of rural land, came out with the same piece of land now residential, valued at $25 million.
The gold tooth flash.
[Confession] I fear Grater Dunedin will take the council majority since Eion’s team[?] has not materialised. June, July, August, September, October… not long to go.
GD stands for no agreed policy amongst cohorts except to keep spending up to non-productive line items and hard-to-read loss makers (by fair means and foul), in the pretence of ‘going forwardness’ – with no accountability or transparency for citizens. What would the world look like with Cull dumped as mayor, and GD in the majority. Scary will mean the same as lacklustre, another three-year wilderness and awesome consolidated debt. An implosion.
### ch9.co.nz June 20, 2013 – 6:48pm
Point of view depends on your end of the alphabet
It is an issue that Cr Bill Acklin may view one way – and Cr Colin Weatherall another.
Video
### ODT Online Fri, 21 Jun 2013
Random candidate listings considered
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council’s established order could be turned on its head by a move to randomly ordered voting papers in time for this year’s local body elections. Councillors will on Monday consider whether to stick with the traditional alphabetical ordering of voting papers, in place since amalgamation in 1989, or opt for a random order instead.
University of Otago political studies lecturer Associate Prof Janine Hayward advised that New Zealand and international studies confirmed a name-order effect giving better results to candidates higher up in alphabetically ordered ballot papers. The extent of the benefit could vary ”considerably”, but mostly candidates higher in the alphabet received extra support of between 1% and 2.5%, the studies showed.
Read more
Ballot paper options
Alphabetical order: Candidates listed alphabetically by surname.
Pseudo-random order: Candidates’ surnames drawn at random; listed in same order on all voting papers.
Random order: Candidates’ surnames listed randomly on each and every voting paper.
ODT 22.6.13 (page 34)
Cr Neil Collins is well gone, in more ways than one. Confusing a phone book with our voting system is worthy of derision.
Earlier comments from Steve received (22.10.10):
### ch9.co.nz June 24, 2013 – 6:44pm
Council overturns tradition of alphabetical ballot papers
Ratepayers voting for their mayor, councillors and community boards this year will find a major change to the system. The DCC this afternoon overturned the long-standing tradition of alphabetical ballot papers. And it gained support from councillors, no matter what letter their names started with.
Video
Bugger! Like fluffy ducks. Or was that dice.
### ODT Online Tue, 25 Jun 2013
Thomson and MacTavish planning to stand again
By Chris Morris
Two more Dunedin city councillors have confirmed they want their seats for another three years. Crs Richard Thomson and Jinty MacTavish, both of the Greater Dunedin grouping, confirmed in a joint statement yesterday they planned to seek re-election as councillors in this year’s local body elections in October. Both would stand again in the Dunedin Central ward. Their decisions meant all five of Greater Dunedin’s incumbents – also including Mayor Dave Cull, deputy mayor Chris Staynes and Cr Kate Wilson, a Mosgiel-Taieri ward candidate – were seeking re-election.
Read more
Self-serving councillors wish to be seen to guard against the perception of corruption when they’re up to their hocks in it already, with some completely submerged.
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### ODT Online Tue, 25 Jun 2013
DCC to adopt randomly-ordered ballot papers
By Debbie Porteous
“Fairness” was the winner at the Dunedin City Council yesterday, when councillors across the alphabet voted to use randomly-ordered ballot papers for the October local body election.
The vote means each ballot paper for the election will list candidates in a random order.
The council had stuck with alphabetical lists in the past because it had no evidence any other way would be fairer. It now had evidence, after council staff sought advice from University of Otago political studies lecturer Associate Prof Janine Hayward, that randomly-ordered ballot papers would be fairer. Prof Hayward advised that New Zealand and international studies confirmed a name-order effect, giving better results to candidates higher up in alphabetically ordered ballot papers. The same effect, though to a lesser extent, would still occur in pseudo-random ballot papers, where candidates’ surnames were not listed alphabetically, but in the same order on each voting paper.
Read more
Right place right time. Right associates, well-placed…….
Elizabeth; most of the Grater Dunedin (as you term it) folk are wimps with little if any direction. If Lee Vandervis was elected mayor he would remold enough of them to his way of thinking as to nullify it as a real force. Face it, they freely admit that they have no party structure nor any common policy. So they’ll wet their finger, feel the air and go with the strong. Another point, with Collins, Brown, Butcher, probably Hudson and Weatherall, and possibly Bezett pulling the plug, there will be a large number of new faces around that table. The likes of Hilary Calvert and others will take it to the likes of Andrew Noone, Kate Wilson, Chris Staynes, Jinty MacTavish etc, it will be a whole different place. With CEO Orders (or a replacement) the demise of the Harland clique will be pretty much ousted. That will leave Cull (whether mayor or not) with possibly little support and a council bound for change. Personally, I am looking forward to the exercise.
That’s optimistic in part Calvin, but other monsters are possible to replace any ‘takeover’, with and apart from some of the names you list. I look forward to October because any council achieved has so little room to move and that’s like a brake upon any attempt at extravagance… except if/when the consolidated debt BLOWS to hell due to factors beyond DCC’s control. All for circuses!
Under STV it is impossible to make predictions, one way or another.People should vote in order of their own preference and forget any delusions that they alone can influence the outcome. If you only want two or three candidates, just vote for them.What’s the point of voting for people you don’t really want in order to be, somehow, ‘strategic’? It won’t work.
remember under STV if someone of your list makes the grade to be elected but accumulates more votes than are needed to be elected the fraction left over of your vote gets passed down to your second choice.
A great example is Lee in the last election he got a lot more votes than were needed to be elected – suppose he got twice as many votes as were needed to be elected, in the next counting rounds each of those people who voted for him would have also counted as half a vote for their second choice (say Bev for example)
Whoever you vote for and actually ends up getting elected there’s a very good chance that they’ll get more votes than it takes to be elected (unless the person you voted who was still viable on your list as low polling candidates were discarded during counting was the ‘last man standing’ as votes were counted – Bev in the last election, or you didn’t put enough votes in your list for your vote to stick with anyone as names were discarded) – anyway chances are that whoever your vote stuck didn’t get exactly the number of votes to be elected, that means that almost always you will also have a fractional vote passed on down to someone else – unless you decide not to have a list that’s long enough for there to be a someone else
You can also vote for someone you don’t expect to be elected as your first choice to make a point – it allows you to make a bet on someone who you don’t think could be elected without wasting your vote – if enough people do that they might actually get elected
Could Brown have survived a real financial scrutiny with regard to if and how he benefitted from his position on Council? Could Hudson survive the same? The reality however is that there is absolutely no desire by any Councillors to support such scrutiny nor any desire to insist upon accountability. Suffice to say that I’m more than happy to see the rear end of Brown and his multiple connections with activities such as racing, pokies, rugby which are all dodgy and probably far worse.
Russell, something happens when a person gets elected to the Council – you become part of the club, and binding to secrecy is part of it. I think we call it covering tails or keeping noses clean in a variety of ways to let the unacceptable and corrupt continue, uninvestigated. Minds in neutral (thickness) in the upper and lower rankings an awful impediment too.
Any non-alphabetic order other than random would simply skew the results in the same way as alphabetical order, only difference being that different people would have the advantage of top-half of the list placings.
I don’t seem to have heard the term, ‘donkey vote’, being used in NZ, but it is commonly used in Australia with a largely preferential voting system for most Federal and State legislatures .It probably happens more there because voting is compulsory and it’s basically an ‘up yours’ protest vote.
Always seems a dumb thing to do here…especially when you don’t have to vote.
The ‘you can’t trust any of them’ reasoning seems a bit defeatist though it is indeed depressing when people change their colours, after getting a seat, and adopt totally contrary positions from what they stated in the election.
### ODT Online Sat, 22 Jun 2013
Whiley to stand for council and mayoralty
By Chris Morris
Chisholm Park Golf Club professional Andrew Whiley is to take another swing at local politics in Dunedin. Mr Whiley (47) yesterday confirmed he would stand as a council and mayoral candidate in this year’s Dunedin City Council elections in October.
Read more
I challenge anyone at all – including the Councillor in question – to come up with any meaningful list of positive things that Cr Neil Collins has achieved in his sinecure position of Councillor. Noted only for his lack of understanding on matters of any importance at all, his lack of preparation before Council meetings, his keen desire to end long debates, his prediliction of collecting any spare food from Council meetings, and his blind support of anything that he is told to support including the wretched stadium, the only other facet worthy of comment is his total arrogance when confronted by his “electorate”. Just one of those whose “contribution” will not be missed for a minute.
It’s just too easy to trade on your well recognised name and……coast. He knows, and we know, and now he has to face the (usually) unspoken fallout in a very personal way. Sad.
I can’t see how Andrew Whiley can promise more jobs for Dunedin on his own. (Well, that’s how he seems to come across in this report.)
It’s like saying the stadium – or the 28-storey hotel – will bring jobs. Never happens, not in any significant way that could possibly change the Dunedin economy.
The council’s job ahead is to reduce the number of staff jobs (hopefully! and fast!), get rid of stupid strategies that operate or will operate at hideous cost to residents and ratepayers (eg things of LOW priority such as cycle networks, amenity improvements, street furniture, and events), and concentrate council work back onto infrastructure – which also includes better performance in providing suitable affordable social housing.
Personally I quite like Neil Collins. Known him from way back and I think he is OK. But having said that, I don’t think he was a good councillor, led pretty much by Richard Walls over the years and followed the lead so to speak. Didn’t seem to grasp the financial aspects of where the councils were taking us, but not devious like some. Pinched a few chocolate eclairs (which was no mean feat while ‘old Rodders’ was around) but that’s not a hanging offense. He did propose and got supported in bringing about the parking concession for those over seventy five which was really appreciated by those folk. All in all he leaves no great foot mark, but no great harm either.
MASSIVE HARM was Cr Collins voting with the bodgie boys for the stadium and other capital projects simultaneously. And not having the guts to know when he was out of his depth on council financials, conflicts of interest, lack of accountability, corruption and fraud, so to stand down sooner and tell the public exactly what went on, detail by detail – to earn the public’s respect. However, that would have taken some stealth work that was quite beyond his intelligence and expertise.
But hey Collins didn’t have this on his own. Oh no. Every councillor from this term and last, in particular, suffers similar goddam blindness. Maybe not Lee Vandervis in all things. Cover-ups are infectious to the weak and the stupid.
Look at how tight the councillors are, no one councillor is shopping anybody – not co-councillors (eg Walls, Hudson, Guest, Brown), not senior staff with a lot to hide (eg Stephens, Avery), not Jim Harland, not Malcolm Farry, not Stuart McLauchlan, not Mike Coburn, not staff at manager level presently acting as double agents for the chief executive – the whole place is in deafening silence mode.
Calvin, I too knew Neil Collins many many years ago. He was a harmless pillock back then, desperate to be a radio announcer, the height of stardom. Eventually made it due to experience gained by years of volunteering, and a lowering of standards, after which he assumed that everyone else was as dazzled by the status of Radio Announcer as he had
been all those years and continued to be. Developed exploitative habits but fortunately didn’t have the twixt-ear wherewithal to indulge in more than minor sleaziness including, as Calvin notes, turning up at every conceivable function with food laid on and eating for two then clearing up a goodly portion of the cleaners’ and other lowly staff’s perks.
Elizabeth, do I sense a slight elevation of blood pressure here? Not good for the health you know. Whilst I agree with your summation I refuse to let it upset my metabolism. Instead I believe that by continuous working away by your good self, Russell, Bev and others we will get the ‘ba….ds’ karma yet.
Nope Calvin, just a keen sense of vengeance be it by karma or calculated expert investigation!
Peter..re: your comments about Andrew Whiley (and for other candidates for that matter). Just read the letters they have sent in over the past couple of years to the ODT for their views on matters (plus views on things at the last local election). Whenever I see a candidate use the phrase or similar – ‘amazed by the number of people encouraging him/her to try…’ I always find it difficult to believe. A person should want to run because they themselves feel a sense of duty – old fashioned I know – not because an ego gets inflated to the point of actually believing the publicity of the people around them.
Which of course begs another question…who are the funders behind any candidate? Of course, these won’t be ‘officially’ known until after the election, but it would be nice if the candidates were asked that question that they could tell you exactly where their ‘funds’ are coming from. Any candidate who cannot answer this question honestly will not get my vote as it will be an indication of how they will act once elected.
Keep your eye on the number of candidates with ‘Chamber of Commerce’ connections too…gosh, isn’t it exciting there’s a local council election soon!!
Wasn’t Neil financially involved with a certain developer in Mosgiel while he was a councilor? There have been a lot of plan changes out Mosgiel way over the last few years.
Yes. I agree, it is crucial to take note who are aligned with the COC. I am also going to pay very careful attention to who on council the wannabee councillors attack. If they attack the easy targets (Vandervis) but forget to also target incompetent debt creators such as Hudson, Noone, Bezett and co, then I know they are boot-lickers to the powerful on council just as Cull is, and there’s no hope of transparency if it means challenging the powerful on council.
Phil C. I agree with you entirely on certain candidates’ egos and what this reveals about their motives.
It will also be interesting to see what buzz words come to the fore this election. Last time it was ‘transparency’ and ‘sustainability’. Any others? Worthy concepts, to be sure, and the kind of thing not many would disagree with. A shame they are used with such abandon that they lose some currency in the process.
I am doubting there will be many candidates who will link transparency with accountability this election. Think, for example, of Delta’s Grady Cameron and his Board, and the monumental incompetence shown by them (to put it mildly).
There will be another polite softly softly election filled with feel good cliches, but with financial elephants in the room, like the stadium, awkwardly side-stepped as far as solutions are concerned (beyond pumping yet more money into Events Funds and the like).
Something I’d like to see starting about now is a thread noting who’s highlighted and who’s not. I still remember the article that was about something Lee Vandervis said, to which Michael Guest the bent lawyer/councillor said something of the depth and relevance of “Nonsense” or “Sit down” yet Guest’s photo accompanied the article.
In today’s paper:
Dave Cull’s photo with
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/262312/dcc-adopt-randomly-ordered-ballot-papers
Kate Wilson’s with
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/262315/fewer-pokie-machines-step-closer
Syd Brown’s with
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/262314/rates-rise-4-adopted-staff-efforts-praised
Peter, I am in two minds as to whether this will be a tame election or not, or whether the issues of transparency and accountability will crop up.
With the Auditor-General enquiry stalled, it would be up to a well-informed independent party as to whether sufficient information could be released at an opportune time as to cause the mud-slinging to start. One would expect a candidate who has no ties to the past corruption and who can stay above the fray, to do well.
Well said, Anonymous. Thin pickings.
Staff at the Dunedin Mail Centre have been in the throws of voluntary redundancy these last weeks, before this hit. Here’s another infrastructure service issue for DCC electoral candidates to ponder (Dunedin has more sinkholes than saves ‘going forward’).
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### ODT Online Wed, 26 Jun 2013
73 jobs go as Dunedin mail centre axed
Mail processing will be transferred from Dunedin to Christchurch next year.
New Zealand Post is to close the Dunedin mail processing centre with the loss of 73 jobs as part of nationwide operational changes. The restructuring announced this morning will result in mail processing being axed from Dunedin, Hamilton and Wellington. Processing centres in Auckland, Manawatu and Christchurch will be expanded. New Zealand Post said in a statement mail processing will be transferred from Dunedin to Christchurch next year.
Read more
### ch9.co.nz June 26, 2013 – 6:40pm
NZ Post to cut 75 jobs in Dunedin
New Zealand Post announced today it intends to cut 500 jobs across New Zealand, including 75 in Dunedin. It says the cuts are being made due to a drop in mail being sent, and it predicts mail volumes will drop even further in the next four years. But the postal workers union says the announcement came out of the blue and its members have been left in a state of shock.
Video
Opinion: NZ Post is ours, but you wouldn’t know it
By Victor Billot
The first point to understand is that NZ Post is spending serious money on the manipulation of public opinion. The documents obtained from NZ Post in 2011 show a concerted effort to undermine community resistance to their corporate agenda.
http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/263171/opinion-nz-post-ours-you-wouldnt-know-it
### ODT Online Thu, 27 Jun 2013
Mail staff devastated as jobs go
By Dene Mackenzie
Workers at the Dunedin mail centre are devastated their jobs will go in a major restructure of New Zealand Post, union representative Mike Kirwood says. And Otago Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Christie is ”incensed” at New Zealand Post’s decision, saying the Government made a mistake in not considering Dunedin for expansion rather than Christchurch. About 73 Dunedin-based workers face a bleak future after yesterday’s announcement the Strathallan St mail centre will close next year. In satellite areas such as Oamaru, Invercargill, Gore, Queenstown-Wanaka and northern centres, another 133 jobs will go.
Read more
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### ODT Online Thu, 27 Jun 2013
Job losses disappointing for councils
The loss of 73 Dunedin jobs is ”dispiriting” for a council trying to create more job opportunities, Mayor Dave Cull says. Any jobs leaving the city was ”serious, and this is a substantial number”. Asked if those workers could find jobs in the city, he acknowledged that would be difficult. ”I don’t think it is an easy market to be finding jobs in these days,” he said. ”This is dispiriting, because one of the focus of council at the moment, under our economic development strategy, was creating more jobs. We are getting a few wins but sometimes I feel that we are one step forward and two back.”
The decision raised the issue of centralisation.
Read more
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ODT Editorial
http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/editorial/262556/time-object-and-protest
As long as the chief executives and directors keep getting their bonuses, and the John Christie’s keep their jobs, there is no problem? Until, that is, one of the people thrown onto that scrap heap finally does what the odds suggest is going to happen with the pressure of hundreds and thousands of job losses.
Good heavens, H.Thermia, that Neil Collins, eh. It wouldnt have done for Head Office. When the cleaners struck, we went out in sympathy. Not one further carbon backed ream was inserted. The Olivettis were black.
anyone but Lee Vandal-lis – that is all
Ala, your surname isn’t Ahkbar is it?
### ODT Online Mon, 1 Jul 2013
Weatherall will not stand again for council
By Chris Morris
The exodus of experience continues at the Dunedin City Council, with long-serving councillor Colin Weatherall confirming he will not seek re-election. Cr Weatherall told the Otago Daily Times he would step down as a councillor at October’s local body elections, ending a five-term career as a councillor that spanned 15 years. He is the third long-serving Dunedin city councillor to step down, following announcements by Crs Neil Collins and Syd Brown.
Cr Weatherall hopes to continue serving as a resource management commissioner in the years to come, as well as in other areas.
Read more
### ch9.co.nz July 1, 2013 – 6:51pm
Nightly interview: Colin Weatherall
Dunedin councillor Colin Weatherall has called time on thirty years of public life. During his five terms as a city councillor he has led the resource consent hearings committee that has ruled on almost 1000 applications. Cr Weatherall joins us tonight for a look back on his time – good evening.
Video
yes another one bites the dust – I’m betting Hudson won’t stand for health reasons, and well, Ackin’s so vulnerable to his drink driving convictions
Whatever happens it is patently obvious that there will be a lot of new faces around the table next semester. Could be good, could be a disaster. Whatever, it will be interesting. Whoever becomes the mayor – which looks like a Cull Vandervis two horse race – will be faced with a monumental task of marshalling them into a workable force. Somehow, I don’t see the incumbent as up to the task. Let’s hope we get some financial nous around that table, not a bunch of cyclists and do-gooders, as that won’t get the city back on an even keel ever.
Acklin however is probably the one in greatest need of his councillor salary.
It’s interesting how people like Colin still talk about ‘making the stadium work’… an acknowledgement, at least, that it still doesn’t work financially. This is now after two years when the place should be still a novelty and at its prime, I would have thought.
Talk of a new roofed stadium in Christchurch will sink our one even further… despite Syd Brown’s silly assertion on Channel 39 that we will have the only one in NZ.
People, like Colin, will never see how blinding their deep love for the game of rugby overwhelmed him, and others, from making a sensible financial decison for the city.
The interview revealed two things to me round the stadium – one, that Colin came to the decision making process with a very clear conflict of interest and he was unable to separate out this conflict with his duty of providing governance for the whole community – in other words, no matter what the realities were Colin would have voted for the stadium. Secondly, he only regrets how it was “sold” to the community. That reminded me of that idiot Harland who stated in a Council meeting that the perception was more important than the facts – or words to that effect. I have no doubts that Colin put in a lot of time and effort into the Hearings area, but to me his inability to separate out his personal interests in professional rugby were a major negative.
Colin Weatherall’s conflict of interest, voting to support the new Rugby stadium because of his formal allegiances to ORFU and Otago rugby, ahead of acknowledging the extreme risk of the stadium’s business case and the scale of debt impacting ratepayers and residents was his biggest decision making stuff up as a councillor.
Further, his position as a city councillor and former ORFU chairman in relation to the multiple rorts involving ORFU, Delta and Carisbrook should be mapped due to the sorry (if not fraudulent) extent of exposure caused to ratepayers and residents.
Colin Weatherall’s chairmanship of the council’s Hearings Committee has been checkered indeed; this bears greater scrutiny for its politics and slant before he is called on/bought for ‘independent’ commissioner work to push through consents and plan changes at the council’s pleasure.
### ODT Online Tue, 2 Jul 2013
City councillors to get pay rise – and smartphones
By Chris Morris
Dunedin city councillors seem set to get a pay rise – together with new smartphones and tablets – following advice from the Remuneration Authority. However, some Dunedin community board members say they are being left out in the cold as their costs rise while pay rates fail to keep up. The comments came at a meeting of the Dunedin City Council’s remuneration subcommittee yesterday, which considered changes to be implemented after local body elections in October.
The changes were first outlined by the authority earlier this year, leading to yesterday’s discussions by the council’s subcommittee, but would also require full council approval at a later meeting. The authority set base pay rates for mayors, councillors and community boards, but left councils to decide how to allocate a pool of extra funding to reward extra responsibilities.
Councillors would also have the option of receiving smartphones and tablets to help them access digital council agendas and reports. The offer would replace the existing entitlement to a landline phone for each councillor, as well as reduce paper consumption, she said. It would be paid for from within existing council budgets and was expected to be cost-neutral over the next three-year term.
Read more
Without Colin being chair of Consents, would Syd’s project ever have got off the ground????????????????
Yes, because smart phones and tablets somehow make everything better. Likewise the myth of going paperless. And now for the council’s next trick: Tens or hundreds of thousands spent on back-end systems (that’s a different ledge for reporters who don’t understand) which makes nil difference to the competence of most councillors.
Just prettier solutions that allow txting in the same way:
Hey Baby, meeting’s a bore! All blah blah blah about millions this and millions that. But missing You!!! XOXOXOXOX
### ODT Online Sat, 6 Jul 2013
New rules not expected to affect much here
By Debbie Porteous
Changes to the rules for local body elections including a $1500 cap on anonymous donations and requirements for information provided by nominees are not expected to have a huge impact on the process in Dunedin.
Read more
Election changes (via ODT)
New provisions of the Local Electoral Act include. –
• Opening and closing of nominations brought forward by a week. Nominations open July 19 and close noon August 16.
• Candidates must lodge all nomination documents together (i.e. nomination paper, $200 deposit, 150-word profile and photo, and for DHB candidates, a conflict of interest statement).
• Candidates must state whether their principal place of residence is or is not within the area for which they are standing – this will be included in the candidate profile booklet.
• Candidates must state whether they are standing for any other positions in the triennial election (anywhere in New Zealand) – this will be included in the candidate profile booklet.
• Anonymous donations above $1500 not allowed.
• Candidate profiles will be publicly available earlier.
• Candidate expenditure returns will be available electronically.
A ditty on Cr Bill Acklin, copied.
A very good reminder by Mike that Acklin is bankrupt. Ludicrous that he is sitting around that council table. With that sort of business ‘nous’ no wonder the city is in the pickle it is.
To be fair Acklin and his wife’s company appears to have gone bankrupt, probably not so themselves, unless they’ve done something to commingle their personal funds with the company. They will have lost their investment (assuming there was one).
It’s pretty difficult to end up owing the IRD $160k without at some point deciding to pay someone but not have any money in the bank to pay taxes $16k worth of taxes has to be way more than one pay period – someone made the decision to keep trading but not pay the IRD – that’s the really bad business decision (apart from the deciding to go into a business competing with the Town Hall and the Stadium).
So, this is a guy entrusted by the ratepayers to look after their interests? What does it say to you? They didn’t know? They didn’t care? They recognised his name somehow? And how about the other Stadium Councillors? Was it Paul Hudson’s photo from a decade or so that did the trick? It makes you wonder just what it is that induces anyone to vote for people that have consistently to be shown to be unconnected with reality.
People in the end trust those that put their name up for election – with a few exceptions of course and who cannot think of Michael Guest, Peter Chin and the late Richard Walls. But unless they have had their shortcomings published in the “respected” media, or heaven forbid, been made accountable for their actions or inactions, they will have the inside running in many instances.
Despair is the word that springs to mind, and my only hope is that enough people that are deserving of the position of Councillor will stand to oust the remaining deadwood. It will take some effort, and I for one will not be looking forward to the list rumoured to be prepared by the Qtown Mafia to look after their Dunedin interests. Oh for a cloning tool!
Three Dunedin City sitting councillors you SHOULD NOT vote for in October: (from top) Bill Acklin, Paul Hudson, Richard Thomson
[we can add more later]
Elizabeth, what’s the hold up? Why wait till later? Drop the mayor and at least a dozen more.
Calvin, I meant the photos, I want the whole council gone. More soon.
Lesser Dunedin struggling to get experienced candidates.
Who? No photo? Who? ODT placed this low on page 5 as a lost item on Saturday, 13 July.
### ODT Online Tue, 16 Jul 2013
Enough of OUSA, time to consider a seat at council
By Vaughan Elder
Otago University Students’ Association president Francisco Hernandez will be stepping down at the end of the year and is considering a bid for a Dunedin City Council seat. Mr Hernandez said he would not be seeking re-election for the OUSA position, but was looking for other ways to serve students. This included either running for council or going for the position of president of the New Zealand Union of Students’ Association.
Read more
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Problem is, from his comments it appears he’s an inexperienced ladder climber – as a result will set his sights outside the electorate. Useless. Bug-eyed and bushy-tailed.
I want responsible government – for how long do we wait to get it (absence: decades).
THANK GOD, the article mentions Logan Edgar is not standing!!!!
Dunedin City Council – Media Release
Nominations for Local Body Elections Open Soon
This item was published on 16 Jul 2013.
Nominations for candidates wishing to stand for this year’s local authority elections open on Friday 19 July.
Anyone wishing to stand as a candidate for the Dunedin City Council (including their local community board), the Otago Regional Council or the Southern District Health Board can obtain nomination forms and candidate information at http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/elections or phone the DCC Customer Services Agency on 03 477 4000.
Nominations close at 12 noon on Friday 16 August.
Anyone over the age of 18 can stand for election as long as they are a New Zealand citizen and are enrolled on the electoral roll.
A combined information evening for candidates interested in standing for the DCC, the ORC and the SDHB will be held in the Municipal Chambers on Wednesday 24 July at 7pm.
The names of candidates will be published on the website as nominations are received. Candidate profiles will be published once nominations close.
The elections are held by postal vote and voting papers will be sent out from 20 September to 25 September. These must be mailed back in time to be received by 12 noon on Election Day, Saturday 12 October. If voting papers do not arrive during that September period, special voting papers can be posted out (phone 03 477 4000) and a Special Voting booth will be available in the Civic Centre.
This year, names on the voting papers will be in random order for the DCC, ORC and SDHB. Each voting paper will be unique.
Local body elections are held every three years on the second Saturday in October.
Contact Electoral Officer on 477 4000.
DCC Link
### ch9.co.nz July 17, 2013 – 6:44pm
Neville Peat announces plans to stand for City Council
Former Otago regional councillor and journalist, writer Neville Peat, has announced he plans to stand for the city council this election. Peat has worked voluntarily for the Orokonui Ecosanctuary trust board, the DCC Harbour Cone/Hereweka Steering Group and the Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Trust. He said this morning the council had plenty of debt, and plenty of challenges on economic, social and environmental fronts.
Ch39 Link [No video available]
So tell me, is Neville Peat one of Eion Edgar’s team, or COC’s, or a Cull-HarbourCone clone for Lesser Dunedin. [I’m not serious]
Mr Peat will get a spread and photo in ODT tomorrow, I’m guessng, because he’s a terribly well known and respected boy, and Letisha Nicholas is not.
Wikipedia entry
Neville Peat (born 1947, Dunedin), is a New Zealand author and photographer, based at Broad Bay on the Otago Peninsula. He specialises in topics about natural history, notably that of southern New Zealand and New Zealand’s sub-antarctic islands. He has written over 30 titles since the late 1970s.
In 1994, Peat was named Dunedin Citizen of the Year for his series of photographic books on the city and his establishment of the Dunedin Environmental Business Network, and in 1996 won the Montana New Zealand Book Awards for his book Wild Dunedin. He has been a Councillor on the Otago Regional Council since 1998, and was its Deputy Chairperson from 2004 to 2007.
In 2004, Peat was behind moves to create an official flag for Otago. This culminated in a competition run through the auspices of the Otago Daily Times newspaper and Otago Polytechnic School of Art towards the end of that year.
In 2007, Peat was awarded the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers’ Fellowship, New Zealand’s largest literary award. It allowed him to complete two major works, a comprehensive book on the Tasman Sea, and the third story in the “Lark” trilogy exploring the nature of southern New Zealand.
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Aside, note his tie up with our friend Malcolm Farry via Orokonui EcoSanctuary and the work of Otago Natural History Trust (ONHT). Neville Peat currently chairs the trust.
Another ‘tree hugger’. Just what we need, everybody ‘on yer bikes’ and charge, to hell with the budget.
I’ve met him several times, can’t say I know him well though. My impressions are favourable. He’s quiet in company, deeply and thoroughly knowledgeable rather than superficial, doesn’t push himself forward or look for cheap glory. I would not be at all surprised if he is one of the old-timers who wants to contribute his energy and experience and knowledge because that was what you did back then when councillors “served” instead of making a career out of parlaying their public profile (at anything, no matter how trivial, how irrelevant) into a nice earner for as long as you wanted it, you just had to keep on side with the majority of your fellow gravy-train riders. In the absence of evidence to the contrary I support Neville Peat.
Being involved in the Orokonui sanctuary and NHNZ are pluses, for me. Malcolm Farry, let us not forget, did some good things. Besides he’s not the Dunedin form of one of the villains from Doctor Who – he doesn’t have super-powers to destroy people’s brains, only those who had holes between the ears where the Spores of Stupidity could get in and cross-breed with the already thriving Toadstools of Gullibility.
Mr Peat is far less likely to be a Guest or a Chin or an Acklin. Not a dreadful blowhard, liar and rapester of ratepayer funds like St Fatty (sic) of St Clair, or his cousin of St Kilda Finance ilk. Checking…
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### ODT Online Thu, 18 Jul 2013
Peat will stand for council
By Rebecca Fox
Author and former Otago regional councillor Neville Peat intends to stand for the Dunedin City Council in the October local body elections. Mr Peat served three terms on the regional council, including time as deputy chairman, and stood down in 2007 to take up the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers’ Fellowship. He has since written five books and is chairman of the Otago Natural History Trust which oversees Orokonui Ecosanctuary. Mr Peat had decided to stand for the city council rather than the regional council, as he felt three terms on the regional council was sufficient time.
Read more
Don’t tell me Cr Thomson wants to be ACCOUNTABLE.
Click on the link to read what mayor and councillors are paid.
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### ODT Online Thu, 18 Jul 2013
Councillors avoid an accidental pay rise
By Chris Morris
Dunedin city councillors were poised to award themselves an accidental pay rise yesterday. The near miss came as councillors at the finance, strategy and development committee meeting considered the remuneration subcommittee’s earlier decision to endorse a nearly $5000 pay rise for city councillors.
Read more
See history of the St Kilda Marine Environment Trust (registered charitable trust) and the Seahorse Fund.
SKME Trustees: John Farry, Tanya Jenkins and Neville Peat
Click to access c-nov17.pdf
Click to access NZCCM-NatGeo.pdf
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See ALL PURPOSE FINANCE LIMITED (Trading as St Kilda Finance) aka APFL
Directors: Peter James HUTCHISON, John Edward FARRY, Oliver Roderick MATSON, Wendy Joan STEIN and Stuart Alexander Mccrae PERRY
In receivership 2008 November 10 – Receiver: BDO Christchurch Limited
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Previous Comments at whatifdunedin relating to St Kilda Finance:
You know how shady New Zealand finance companies use/used ‘unsuspecting’ sportsmen and former Ministers of the Crown with Honours (Sir Douglas Graham springs to mind) to sell dodgy investment product… What about a respected conservationist or two.
Now tell us, if you were going to vote such a person onto DCC (with their past Farry(s) connection and so on…) do you think they would be independent, and capable of fair governance and carrying out full diligence of financial matters?
Are they responsible enough to look after your rates funds and council budgets, prudently and conservatively as required by law under the Local Government Act?
Neville Peat is well known and respected, but that doesn’t mean that he can make sensible decisions. To me he seems obsessed with Environmentalism and Sustainability. I think he is an extreemist like Jinty. To his credit he seems genuine in his ideology, unlike the Green candidate who has only recently discovered his Greenness.
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{Apologies, Thomson’s letter resized. -Eds}
Is this the Farry connection starting to appear for the next election?
Very possibly, Lance. Watch out.
Hilary Calvert will stand as an independent candidate for the Dunedin mayoralty and council.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/265335/calvert-confirms-bid-mayoralty
A vote for Hilary is as good as a vote for Cull.
Hilary comes with a coterie of big business friends, lawyers and game players. Her Presbyterian family lineage ain’t the whole story, most obviously. I’m still getting over her interlude with ACT, and more particularly the brevity and stupidity of her stint at Parliament as a List MP. She’ll need to do some rather hefty work and make serious undertakings to ever be considered as Mayor. I’d like her as a potential councillor if she’s willing to keep the naive greenie girls in check by absolute hammering – is she up to it ?
Yes – Hilary for council, not mayor.
Things are a little thin on the mayoral candidate front.
Will we end up with devil-we-know voting?
again remember we have an STV system a vote for Hilary is a vote for her until they point during counting where it becomes obvious that her candidancy will not win – then your vote is a vote for whoever your second choice was – doesn’t have to be Cull
IMHO you should choose the person you think will make the best mayor for you, then the next, all the way down, if you find say that Farry’s also standing and think that even Cull would be better then rank him higher
STV Explanations
See the following Posts and associated Comments – Steve is a nationally recognised expert on the STV system:
22.8.10 Why NOT…. the STV voting system
26.8.10 In defence of STV
I’m pleased Hilary Calvert is standing and would love to see her on council. Her politics may be to the right of my own, but I respect her sound grasp of financial affairs along with Lee Vandervis, who has been fighting for years, virtually on his own on council, to keep the spenders at bay. These two people on council will ask the probing questions.
At the same time I would really like to see Aaron Hawkins in there and Jinty MacTavish, who from their political perspective will keep tabs on those who would love to exploit the local environment for their own financial ends.
For me, this election is voting in people with real integrity.Party labels, past and present, mean nothing to me. No more back sliders and opportunists, who don’t have the courage of their convictions when the pressure is put on them from the Tartan Mafia.
I will ignore the joker candidates who have no idea of their own narcisistic foolishness.
### ODT Online Thu, 25 Jul 2013
DCC election in need of candidates
By Chris Morris
The starter’s gun has fired, but candidates racing for electoral success in Dunedin are not exactly setting a cracking early pace. Bums on seats were outnumbered by empty chairs as about 12 members of the public turned out for last night’s candidates information briefing at the Municipal Chambers in Dunedin.
In the gathering were Dunedin businessman Doug Hall, union official Calvin Fisher, student broadcaster Aaron Hawkins and Otago University Students’ Association president Francisco Hernandez. Nominations for all three public bodies opened last Friday, but so far only one nomination – from incumbent Dunedin city councillor John Bezett – has been processed.
Candidates have until noon on August 16 to complete the nomination process.
Read more
Good points, Peter, about the need for “balance” or, more cynically, opposing forces acting to prevent excess in either envirutopianism, or “rationalising” assets and services.
### publicaddress.net 12:30 Jul 19, 2013
Leagal Beagle by Graeme Edgeler
Council Elections: STV Q&A
Nominations for this year’s local body elections have opened. Voting papers will be mailed to you in September (if you have enrolled by 16 August these will be sent to you automatically; you can still enrol after that – right up until the day before voting papers have to be back – but voting will involve a little extra effort).
Naturally, this post is about voting systems. It’s also one of my laziest posts ever (but not laziest) as I’ve largely copied and pasted below something I wrote shortly before the last local body election. Because there’s always a lot of misinformation about how the STV voting system works, I thought I’d try to get in early this time.
If you’ve any other questions about how voting will work (or about how block-vote works), feel free to ask in the comments.
So you’re voting in an STV election, and you want know how to best use your vote?
Well – here goes.
What is STV?
STV is Single Transferable Vote. It is a voting system where everyone gets one vote, but that vote, or part of that vote, can transfer from one candidate to another candidate. It can be used to elect one candidate – like a mayor – or to elect multiple candidates in a single ward. It is generally considered a proportional voting system.
Read more… Questions and Answers
As previously mentioned at What if? Dunedin – see James’ STV graphs (posted 14.10.10) for the last DCC elections at
And catch up on the STV debate at
http://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/legal-beagle-council-elections-stv-qa/?i=0
The upside, but probably too early to tell, is that hopefully there won’t be too many candidates standing who are weird in some way. At least those mentioned have good minds.
Councillors NOT standing again:
Brown, Butcher, Collins, Weatherall
Stadium Councillors, standing:
Bezett, Noone
Greater Dunedin, standing:
Cull, MacTavish, Staynes, Thomson, Wilson —(new) Lord, Mosley, Nicholas
Others, standing:
Cr Stevenson, Cr Vandervis —(new) Calvert, Loo, Peat, Whiley
Uncertain Stadium Councillors:
Acklin, Hudson
Uncertain, Council hopefuls:
Fisher, Hall, Hawkins, Hernandez
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Mayoral candidates:
Calvert, Cull, Hawkins, Lequeux, Vandervis, Whiley
OMG, is this our idea of a responsible or capable councillor ???? Retro-gressive.
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### ODT Online Wed, 31 Jul 2013
Benson-Pope eyes DCC seat
By Chris Morris
Former cabinet minister and Dunedin South MP David Benson-Pope is attempting a political comeback by standing for the Dunedin City Council. Mr Benson-Pope (63) – a five-term Dunedin city councillor before entering national politics – yesterday confirmed he would run again for a city council seat in October’s local body elections. He is the fifth candidate confirmed so far for the council’s 11-seat central ward. The move comes after Mr Benson-Pope bowed out of national politics in 2008, after becoming embroiled in scandal over allegations he mistreated pupils while a teacher in the 1980s.
Read more
I’ve heard from a very good source that Dave Cull is betting all on the Mayoralty ticket. Perhaps he can’t stand the thought of being demoted to just councillor. When one looks at the ‘Greater Dunedin’ report card over the last two terms you would have to say; at most five or five and a half. Could have tried harder, lacks vision and effort. Perhaps out of one’s depth in understanding demands of subjects. Could seek success in other avenues, none obvious at present.
Heehee.
Looks like if Dave Cull doesn’t like you what you say on his web site he has it expunged and you barred. Does that look like the actions of a confident man? I think not. Not the hallmark of a leader in my book.
Calvin, I like people that harrass the Liability.
Hey Hey! David Benson-Pope feels the need to give some more back to society. As if he hasn’t done enough. Let’s hope his ‘testosterone’ level has subsided somewhat, we don’t want anymore hinting of ‘unusual’ activities somewhere in the vicinity of the Carisbrook (formerly Parkside) hotel. Let’s not forget that he was the one who strongly advocated that the DCC should buy up a large chunk of land at Allanton for an industrial park, primarily to induce Wenita Forestry to establish a timber mill. Thank goodness it didn’t happen, as indeed Winita didn’t in any event proceed with a mill. He is just another opportunistic ‘wannabe’ spendthrift (OPMs) like the rest of them. Long may he remain retired.
Hide the tennis balls.
New Zealanders have fought and endured long, hard wars to preserve our democracy and our way of life. It dishonors their efforts for a creature as vile as David Benson-Pope to try to gain influence over the running of our City. To me he has appeared extremely self-centered and has no concept of empathy; I think that some of his previous councillor associates would see him as a bully and were very glad to see the back of him.
Apart from his unpleasant personality, he seems badly informed about what has been going on in the city since he became an MP in 1999. He says: “The council appeared to be doing a good job in many areas – including debt management.” – he doesn’t seem to understand that the consolidated debt is still increasing (ie debt including Dunedin City Holdings and the stadium companies).
Benson-Pope as a former Labour MP, seems to remain a dedicated Labour Party supporter. I see party-political politics as being a very harmful influence on city councils. We already have the Green Party poking their oar in, and another one from Labour won’t help. It is hard enough to get our councillors to make sensible decisions, without the added complication of party-politics. The only plus is that he’s not French.
That’s the kicker isn’t it? Benson-Pope signals widely and clearly to all stakeholders and stadium councillors that he won’t interupt any ratefund gravy train to them; he will continue as Cull is, throwing Dunedin under the bus.
Standing because he needs the money. And his fool head is spelled ego and bent.
ODT Online was good enough to publish this:
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/266851/benson-pope-eyes-dcc-seat#comment-46697
Have taken a screenshot in case it’s pulled later!
In light of the Swan case, this might be even more relevant reading.
We have had our share of unpleasant bullies here in Dunedin politics and don’t need the return of another one.
Bullies, once you stand up to them, crumble. Too many people don’t realise this and instead try avoidance.
I can’t understand why BP wants this job again, aside from the money and the lure of public life again… which he obviously takes a delight in. He must be masochistic to want this.
Until recently, the Lewis Lewis shock expose was on the INVESTIGATE! website. The story is about corruption within Dunedin police in the 1980s, starring Howard Broad and G Hunter. The Parkside was something else, a shabby upper room doing scenes from ‘Eyes Wide Shut’. Call me an out of towner, but I find it hard to believe B~P was involved with that.
Yes alanbec – it’s still at Investigate, we linked to the magazine archives at another thread here earlier this year. Sorry, pal, with what we know and who we tangle with… DBP was properly ‘copped’.
Investigate’s inquiries into this particular incident have uncovered a major political dimension – allegations that senior Labour MPs Michael Cullen (now the Attorney-General) and Minister in charge of CYFS, David Benson-Pope – a schoolteacher at the time – helped police cover-up a major pedophilia, bondage and bestiality ring in the city in the mid-1980s. We’ll have full details of the political angle shortly, but first we’ll take you through the incident itself.
I’ll watch with interest as the D B-P thing evolves. He might come to rue the moment he decided to enter the council election. It has to be an ‘ego’ thing which overtakes all common sense. That’s the trouble with those political types, they are mesmerised by their own image. Narcissistic prats, that use public office to strut their persona. I can think of at least two that fill the bill currently.
Did the ODT forget the part where B-P stepped down as a result of him being outed as a current active member of the local Dunedin BDSM club ?
Oh dear, selective memory at ODT.
I see Paul Hudson and Bill Acklin haven’t publicly declared yet, though I understand Acklin will stand. Paul Hudson, true to form, keeps his cards close to his chest. You never know where he is slithering.
Peter, in the case of Hudson, I don’t think the days are long enough yet for him to venture out of hibernation. Probably still shedding last year’s skin.
Bill Acklin will wait for a few more drinks, and then he will have to take a while to read the nomination forms which, according to Maurice Prendergast, are possibly beyond Bill’s intellect. It could take some time to get an interpreter as I doubt many of suitable calibre move in Bill’s circles.
Acklin needs the pay, doesn’t he? As an entertainer & promoter he’s pretty small beer and he hasn’t a great record of managing money, to put it mildly.
He’s lined up (AGAIN) to sweep the NZ Masters Games entertainment ‘b/ill’.
I’m sure Acklin is sitting around that council table due to his staunch support of justice and equality, not due to any side perks he might get to supporting certain council cabals. Heaven forbid the thought!
Benson-Pope. The man of double standards. He criticises the central business area of Dunedin (George St) as being really dirty and needs a lift. But hang on a minute, David. You have just finished sitting on a hearing out at Mosgiel, where you were the Chair of the hearings committee, and you allowed the expansion of the Mosgiel business area to be expanded onto rural land that has a dirty shingle covered entry way with no separation of the vehicle or pedestrian traffic. You had the opportunity as the Chair to make a difference that you so desperately want to do in George St, and give this dirty entry and drive way a lift, and you did nothing. Words are cheap, David, actions are what you will be remembered by. You will always be remembered by your association with balls. A lack of, and tennis balls.
Just as well he doesn’t have to rely on his talent.
Or ability.
It’s only hearsay, but I have heard he was good at balancing on the end of a stick (metaphorically) with a heavy weight on the outer end.
Now I’m getting confused between Bill Acklin and David Benson-Pope.
Notice how much public exposure Mr Peat is getting all of a sudden from the Allied stable. Hasn’t been heard of for about four years, then he becomes the man of the moment.
A suggestion of a little tart up of the CBD streets seems a bit light for a policy platform. I’m more concerned at the large number of empty shops. That tells us something more about the economic health of Dunedin, doesn’t it?
Playing ‘tidy kiwi’ has been done before locally. Along with cutesy blankets tied around the trees in the Octagon. Just to show that ‘you care’ about trees. No more political stunts, please.
No confusion Elizabeth, just ‘mediocrity’ writ large. Benson-Dope has always been just that. Bill Acklin, well…errr… Helloooo!!
Lordy the dear old ODT surely loves its Chamber of Commerce. There one of the headmen is (as ever) again on the front page sharing his words of wisdom, along with our mayor with his concerned face on. Will the ODT ever stop fawning to the COC. We get it. The COC and the ODT love one another.
Why oh why does the ODT think we need insight from an individual who is, along with several others, responsible for the city’s debt?
I see Invermay’s potential slashing as something Cull will exploit to no practical end other than hollow electioneering. Same as the GCSB screaming he’s been doing. He stuffed around with Hillside sinking (as did COC)…