![Dog Playing Dead Who should be playing dead [pixgood.com] text overlay by whatifdunedin](https://dunedinstadium.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/dog-playing-dead-who-should-be-playing-dead-pixgood-com-text-overlay-by-whatifdunedin1.jpg)
### ODT Online Fri, 6 Nov 2015
Hope for closure over Citifleet fraud
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council hopes to turn the page on the $1.5 million Citifleet fraud after taking a public hammering in the eyes of ratepayers. Council chief executive Sue Bidrose expressed that hope after the police yesterday released their final report into the Citifleet investigation, which concluded no charges would be laid over the fraud.
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No comments allowed at ODT.
I don’t accept from Ms Bidrose that everything is now in the past. She was GM for Citifleet and Citipark, and latterly CE when this all started to unfold, and ultimately responsible for staff —in that the risk of loss of life as a possible outcome once DCC started (much belatedly) its internal investigation should have been better managed.
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Related Post:
24.4.15 DCC re Dr Bidrose’s time as most senior Citifleet Manager
[via LGOIMA request initiated by Cr Lee Vandervis]
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
*Image: pixgood.com – Dog Playing Dead Who should be playing dead – text overlay by whatifdunedin
What if? Dunedin... 
Love it when the media moves from informing its readers to telling them how to think. The image is cute. I bet he’s one of those clever old dogs that loves a good belly rub from his masters and causes all sorts of mischief when let off his leash.
Unfortunately, Ms Bidrose hasn’t near slashed enough.
### ODT Online Sat, 7 Nov 2015
$230,085 in severance pay
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council says a $230,000 bill for severance payments to departing staff is the cost of progress. Council figures showed eight payments, ranging from $4479 to $76,939, and together totalling $233,085, had been made to departing council staff in the year to June 30.
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I can sort of understand why things would be swept under the carpet. Because there might be a view that to really get to the bottom of this would completely destroy the immediate functioning of the DCC. And once close to dead, it would be very hard to resuscitate. And a functioning local authority is needed to keep the city ticking over.
However, the other side of that is that it looks as if there’s one law for ordinary individuals acting alone – who, I am sure, would have been considered to have not taken proper care if they got a very cheap car from someone, apparently selling it on behalf of some-one else and, as a result they would have been guilty of receiving stolen property – and a kind of ‘safety in numbers’. (“Everyone’s doing it.”) The trouble is when I first came to Dunedin fifteen years ago, the gossip around the town was that fleecing and milking the DCC, if you were an insider, was pretty much the norm. And this had been going on for years. People would characteristically mutter, “Bloody council.” But no-one would ever take them on. No-one seemed to dare.
Your right Diane, if the poo is going to hit the fan, far better to obfuscate than have a real proper job cleanup that allows a perennially corrupt organisation to change, survive and lead to a Dunedin on an upswing rather than the black hole the city is heading to now.
I mean what hope would Dunedin have with a zero debt per capita rather than $15,000 as of now, a council who encouraged business activity rather than being recognised as the most obstructive certainly in the south island if not the nation.
I say keep them on, the devil you know is far better than the potential saviour(s) you may not.
Or you could take the point that B-P, Hawkins, Cull, Staynes, Wilson, Hall, Wylie et al have had a go in some cases short, but not an iota of success to show for whatever their effort entailed and get some real intelligence and honesty of purpose into the management of the city.
Unfortunately, the likelihood of such a transition is so unlikely that most of the persons who evaluate and consider such matters are either unlikely to stand or to be elected. Which suggests that Dunedin citizens get what they deserve, hidden corruption, incompetent fiscal management, burgeoning debt and less than zero opportunities for their own advancement, such opportunity stultified by those currently in charge and administering your hard earned rates.
There’s a saying, ‘It’s a foolish parasite which kills its own host.’ A lot of my hope for better local government in Dunedin is that the parasites themselves having realised that.
But the problem, even for them, is as you say, Gurglars, finding somebody here competent to take it on as an elected rep.
The poor house calls.
ODT 7.11.15 (page 30)
Every successful university (only) town – with one dysfunctional city council – needs CAMEL SHACKLES. For god sake, they’ve been sold to a private buyer, and there’s no account of sale and purchase? Blimey.
Cull’s response is hilarious, for those with a warped sense of humour. “Council has therefore taken a prudent, businesslike approach, keeping within the existing budget……… consistently reduced rates increases from what has been projected…..”
Slap me quickly, I’ve laughed so hard I can’t breathe. “Prudent, businesslike” !!!
Bike Barn (see https://dunedinstadium.wordpress.com/2015/10/29/john-evans-always-follow-the-money-honey/) have brilliant half price specials, achieved by “normal” price of twice as much, and actually sell very VERY few cycles at “full” price. Then there’s Briscoes, wait a couple of weeks till what you want is on special. “Reduced” prices aren’t all that hard to manage. Reduced rates likewise, first announce a big scary percentage then make a song and dance about the amazing skill with which you brought it down to… who knows… the number you originally knew it needed to be, that still allows for vanity projects?
Let me rewrite that. “Council has increased rates above underlying inflation for years, using as a financial resource the ratepayer, who is incredibly well patronised”.
CAMEL SHACKLES, sold to a private buyer, no account of sale and purchase? That’s what comes of too much TV watching at a formative age. Arthur Daley and Terry. Del Boy and Rodney. Cull and Bidrose?
The rate of inflation is actually close to zero, interest rates are at all time lows and wages have not risen significantly for ten years. A 4% annual rates increase in the light of low inflation is just “larceny by trick”.
Theft- from you.
Agreed Hype.. It is sometimes known as “The Car Dealer Trick”. This is where the dealer offers you an insanely low figure for a trade. When you’ve dragged yourself off the floor as the result of collapsing in shock, any amended slightly better figure somehow seems palatable. It is a bit like offering to send a gang around to your house to kill your family, burn your house down and take all of your money. When you are offered the last option, you feel it is the preferred outcome. And so it is with DCC rates. If we accept inflation is below 1%, and the proposed rates increase is pushing 4%, it fits perfectly with the 300% to 400% cost overruns for the DCC cycleways!
I saw this ‘car dealer’s trick’ done at the DCC by way of council resolution to bamboozle the other councillors. I could hardly believe the chair, who I think was Peter Chin, allowed it. It was about the stadium and went like this : Since spending more than X million dollars on the stadium is unacceptable to the ratepayers, we propose that no more than X – 1 million dollars be spent on the stadium, provided that …. ‘ ( followed by a whole lot of conditions). So yet another little step taken along the road to Dunedin’s financial perdition. Hard to vote against the motion because then it sounded like you were voting for spending more than X million dollars. And, of course, ratepayers were expected to be grateful because the council could be reported as resolving to limit its spending. Pleased to see that we now have better governance staff alert to dodgy resolutions with excessive and sometimes fantastical conditions and negative framing or double negatives which can result in councillors not really being clear about what they are voting for.
Of course in the Stadium Chin reign there was that arch manipulator in Cr Guest. He managed to bamboozle most of the councillors with linguistic doublespeak to push the stadium along by phrasing motions with caveats or ‘lines in the sand’. These caveats or ‘lines’ of course were never adhered to nor mentioned ever again and the dozy councillors went along with it. That’s how we got a ‘not a penny more than $188m stadium for the gift price of just $250m. It only takes one “sharp rotten apple” and it’s all over as long as the staff are no better. What’s changed? Not a lot that I can see.
And then CEO, Jim Harland, would come along and terrorise the councillors by pointing out how many millions they had spent on ‘investigations’ while as yet being uncommitted by all those escape clauses and how they may have as well have thrown this vast sum into the rubbish bin if they didn’t proceed with the project.
And, Calvin, something HAS changed because the tricky bastards are being WATCHED AND REPORTED ON by people who I hope are equally as tricky. I always felt given enough rope they would hang themselves and they have.
I dont understand. Was a convicted fraudster on Council? Golden ‘Fleece’ is remembered at Terce. Latin time. It was all over the place, rather like applying to the QE2 Arts Council. One prepared a ‘proposal’ (bs), for funding. I believe these applied to taxpayer money as well, bulk funding institutions and ‘ways and means’ with welfare payments, for which solo mothers were scapegoated. Cant systems have rigorous, independent auditing?
Can Cant help ?!
I actually saw a slurp-truck opposite Bunnings in South Dunedin yesterday, busily slurping a drain. Incredible – Took it a while and a lot of fiddling just to do one though. No sign as to who it belonged to. Maybe it’s a new ‘Jucy-Slurp’ rental line.
Maybe this sort of slurp-truck ?
City Care has bought a new one.
https://dunedinstadium.wordpress.com/2015/11/03/south-dunedin-floods-correspondence-debriefing-notes-released-by-dcc-today-lgoima/#comment-66977
City Care is of course owned by the Christchurch City Council. Funny that.
Wellington aside [if only the local boys (and girls?) had the balls, yes all in bed together]
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### radionz.co.nz Updated at 9:59 am on 7 November 2015
RNZ News
Chamber of Commerce ‘stuck in dark ages’
Wellington’s deputy mayor is accusing the Chamber of Commerce of being the ‘fun police’ after the organisation decided to take court action against the city council. The chamber said it will apply for a High Court judicial review of the council’s decision to extend its living wage of $19.25 per hour to its security guards. Justin Lester said the additional money will have no impact on ratepayers and the increase will be offset by taking $250,000 from its existing personnel and travel budget of $91 million. […] “The Chamber of Commerce just want to be the fun police in Wellington. It seems that they don’t want us to spend $500,000 this weekend on fireworks in the city, they don’t want us to spend on the Santa Parade and they don’t want us to pay our staff a reasonable wage either.
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No effect on ratepayers? Who else will pay? If the council can reduce expenditure why should the ratepayer not pay LESS RATES!
At least the Wellington Chamber of Commerce represents Wellington citizens, Dunedin does not.
“If the council can reduce expenditure why should the ratepayer not pay LESS RATES!”
What a revolutionary notion! Tell Richard Thomson, then next time they find some unspent money he won’t have to rush off and find a sports-related gimme-gimme to give it to.
Or himself as in the SDHB