City Property . . . .

### ODT Online Sat, 10 Jun 2017
Property boss quits
By Chris Morris
The man in charge of the Dunedin City Council’s multimillion-dollar property portfolio has quit following a review by independent auditor Deloitte. [A] Council spokesman ….yesterday confirmed city property manager Kevin Taylor resigned last week. [DCC] responding to Otago Daily Times questions by email, declined to say what Deloitte’s review had found, insisting the final report was “still being considered”. The development came three months after the ODT reported the department responsible for property worth hundreds of millions of dollars was being reviewed ….The role was expected to change in future, with a “specific focus” on community and civic properties ….Mr Taylor’s departure was the latest upheaval for the city property department, following the departure of former city property manager Robert Clark in 2014, and his assistant manager, Rhonda Abercrombie, the following year.
Read more

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### ODT Online Fri, 10 Mar 2017
Council’s property department under review
By Chris Morris
The performance of the Dunedin City Council’s city property department is under the scrutiny of an independent auditor. It was confirmed yesterday Deloitte had been called in to examine the department responsible for property worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It is understood the review’s focus was on the department’s performance, and any suggestion of impropriety has been ruled out. Deloitte has been brought in to provide extra resources for the review, but city property manager Kevin Taylor has been replaced in the day-to-day running of the department.
Read more

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### ODT Online Tue, 15 Sep 2015
Property manager quits DCC
By Chris Morris
Dunedin City Council manager Rhonda Abercrombie has resigned abruptly, but nobody is prepared to say why. Mrs Abercrombie, the council’s assistant city property manager, handed in her notice last week but was no longer working at the council’s Civic Centre building.
Read more

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### ODT Online Tue, 29 Apr 2014
Quick exit for another DCC senior manager
By Debbie Porteous
Another senior manager is to have a quick exit from the Dunedin City Council after the announcement yesterday of his departure. Economic development and property group manager Robert Clark will clear his desk on Friday. He is returning to the commercial sector after six years with the council. Mr Clark’s withdrawal from the organisation comes after a proposal was circulated to staff last month in which his position was effectively disestablished, his responsibilities split between new positions to be created under a new council operating structure. The structure was developed by chief executive Dr Sue Bidrose in a review of the council’s property and economic development operations.
Read more

Dunedin City Council – Media Release
Manager Economic Development and Property moving on
This item was published on 28 Apr 2014
The Dunedin City Council’s Group Manager Economic Development and Property Robert Clark is leaving the organisation after six years to return to the commercial sector. General Manager Infrastructure and Networks Tony Avery says Mr Clark’s last day at the DCC will be on Friday, although he will continue to do transitional consulting work in the coming months on some significant projects.
Read more

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For some weeks, independently of today’s news, the Dunedin grapevine has been rattling (autumn leaves) with tales of the missing City Property reserves, worth millions.

WHAT, you say. Noooooo.

Let’s hope our elected representatives are onto it.
Historical, it appears.

Thus the shadow boxing about town: raising all the circular questions of who and how, historically.

New blood to a system is supposed to flush out nasties, this takes hard analysis of past annual reports and investments, and of ‘figures’ present and correct —or not. Anything strange or unseemly, a mere whiff of stray fur, should be swiftly signalled to the chief executive for immediate independent audit, especially if to do with a property division.

The age-old question for local government continues to be: if you’re not a business person, how do you smell rats in your balance sheets and upon whom do you rely for sound advice, internally and externally, for the health and solid whereabouts of your ratepayer funds and assets. Indeed, without this staunch critical oversight how on earth can a council operate or even run its companies.

And how do you screen applicants; and monitor job performance.
Without great gaping holes in the cheese and skirtings, People!

[pennlive.com]

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Related Post and Comments:
A selection only. Some comments or links to related posts under these post titles are very telling in the collective sense.
26.2.17 No news : Appointment of Group CFO
14.2.17 DCC not Delta #EpicFail : Wall Street falsehoods and a world class debt
22.1.17 DCC LGOIMA Response : Wall Street Mall and Town Hall Complex
9.9.16 Calvert on DCC, ‘We could have a much more democratic and transparent operation of council’
12.8.16 DCC trifecta : openness, transparency, accountability —All dead?
10.6.16 g’bye & ’ello [GCFO resigns]
3.12.15 DCC factory crew issues, ELT, CEO….
16.11.15 DCC operating deficit $1M worse than budget
6.11.15 DCC non compos mentis
8.9.15 DCC Citifleet: Council steered off SFO investigation
17.3.15 DCC whistleblowing —what is open government ?
23.2.15 Wall Street Mall drops glazing panel to George Street
29.12.14 DCC gets QLDC talent…. the weft and warp deviously weaves
18.12.14 DCC: Deloitte report released on Citifleet
18.9.14 DCC considers sale of “149 properties”
15.9.14 Cull’s council spent the cash
11.9.14 DCTL: New treasury manager
8.9.14 Jim Harland and the stadium MESS
1.9.14 DCC Fraud: Further official information in reply to Cr Vandervis
28.4.14 DCC loses City Property manager in restructuring
28.8.14 DCC: Tony Avery resigns
22.8.14 DCC: Deloitte report referred to the police #Citifleet
31.7.14 DCC: Services and development #staffappointment
3.7.14 Stuff: Alleged vehicle fraud at DCC
1.7.14 DCC: Far-reaching fraud investigation Citifleet
3.6.14 DCC unit under investigation
2.5.14 DCC $tar-ship enterprise
24.1.14 Stadium: It came to pass . . .
28.12.13 Sue Bidrose, DCC chief executive
18.11.13 DCC: New chief executive
24.9.13 DCC chief executive Paul Orders recommended for Cardiff
14.10.13 DCC: New chief financial officer
7.9.13 Stadium: $266 million, more or less?
2.8.13 DCC, Stadium —sorry picture
24.7.13 DCC / DCHL shake up !!!
4.7.13 Carisbrook: DCC losses
25.5.13 Paul Orders: Dunedin or Cardiff ???
11.5.13 Stadium: Truth, usual whitewash or prosecution ?
21.3.13 DCC: Opportunity created by Stephens’ departure
20.11.12 Dunedin City Council vs Anzide Properties decision: The road “has no legal basis”
31.10.12 Dunedin City Council – all reports posted, belatedly!
26.10.12 DCHL borrowed $23 million to bail DCC
22.8.12 Mr Orders, sir! About your staff expertise…
9.6.12 City Property to compete more obviously in the market (their excuse: PPP)
4.5.12 Who was it – Malcolm Farry? Peter Brown?…
9.11.11 Paul Orders for change!
17.9.11 Paul Orders starts Monday
19.5.11 Information received today
29.12.10 Jim Harland
29.10.10 DCC Chief Executive resigns – timing is everything!
16.8.10 Dunedin City Council security for borrowings
29.7.10 Dunedin social housing
12.6.10 DCC Media Release – CEO salary and performance
18.5.09 Mayor Peter Chin: ‘not about social housing’

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Delta and the (T)r * uble with Mr . . . .

At Facebook:

### ODT Online Wed, 17 May 2017
Delta appoints new CEO
Dunedin City Council-owned company Delta has appointed a new chief executive as it splits with sister company Aurora Energy. Delta chairman Steve Thompson announced today that Mike Costelloe will take over as chief executive of the company next month. […] Mr Thompson said Mr Costelloe was appointed following a thorough and competitive executive search process, which considered candidates from throughout New Zealand and overseas. Since January 2015 Mr Costelloe had been strategic accounts general manager at Downer New Zealand and before that he was the Otago and Southland general manager at the same company. […] “His track record in the highly competitive contracting sector positions him well to drive Deltas future success, to prepare the organisation as it adapts to new energy technologies and to deliver to the exacting requirements of our customers,” Mr Thompson said. Mr Costelloe, who resides in Dunedin, said he was looking forward to taking on the new challenge when he took over the role on June 19. […] Dunedin City Holdings Limited (DCHL) is in the process of implementing director changes for its subsidiaries Delta and Aurora Energy from 3 July.
Read more

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Most of us will remember Mr Costelloe from his short time at DCC.

LinkedIn profile [screenshot]

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### channel39.co.nz Wed, 23 Jan 2008
Defective Traffic Light Causing Havoc
A defective traffic light is causing havoc for pedestrians and traffic at the intersection of King Edward St and Hillside Rd. The light’s been stopping and starting periodically since Saturday, with the Dunedin City Council unable to get it working properly again. Council Transport Operations Manager, Mike Costelloe, says many attempts have been made to repair the light, but it crashes again every time. There have been several reports of near misses at the intersection, and an elderly man’s been treated for minor injuries at Dunedin Hospital, after he was knocked over by a vehicle. Costelloe says they haven’t been able to find the source of the problem, making it difficult to find a solution.
Read more + Video

█ Channel 39 ran a second news item the following evening, entitled “Defective Traffic Light Still Causing Havoc”…..

Mr. Bean Uploaded on Sep 17, 2009
Mr Bean – Red Traffic Light
OFFICIAL MR BEAN. Mr Bean nips out of his car at the traffic light and holds up a queue of traffic. When the lights change green for second time he holds them up again on purpose. From animated episode No Parking.

Mr. Bean Uploaded on Sep 4, 2009
Mr Bean – Traffic Lights — An der Ampel
OFFICIAL MR BEAN. Mr Bean gets stopped at a red light. He sees a cyclist get off and push his bike round the corner. So he gets out of his car and pushes the mini round the corner. From Mr Bean Goes to Town.

Ilyass AB3 Published on Jan 20, 2013
Mr.bean – Episode 5 FULL EPISODE “The Trouble with Mr.bean”

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

What local body elections ?

Ecologist appointed to Dunedin City Council
News via Art Festival aside at ODT

### ODT Online Tue, 11 Oct 2016
Won a painting, now for a wall
A new Dunedin resident has won a painting auction; now he just needs a wall to hang the artwork on. Aalbert Rebergen recently moved to Dunedin and his admiration for the work of local artist Frank Gordon prompted a visit to his exhibition at Gallery De Novo on Saturday. The gallery was about to close when he saw the Frank Gordon painting The City of Magic & Song but could not find a price tag. […] Mr Rebergen has moved to the city to take on a new role at the Dunedin City Council as an ecologist.
Read more

We’re probably long overdue to have an ecologist on council staff.
We hear good things about Mr Rebergen, who has been with ORC.

Ecologists are specialist scientists who survey ecosystems and assess the diversity, profusion and behaviour of the different organisms within them. Ecologists tend to work for government agencies, environmental trusts, conservation charities and research institutes.
Or indeed as private consultants.

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Another sort of ecology IS Dunedin City Council.
When the DCC doesn’t check leaks and drains in the hill suburbs – completely misses them despite ratepayer queries and concerns! But City Care to THE RESCUE (the company from Christchurch, best practice in hand) finds was it five burst water mains in less than a day within the same street area, where for YEARS DCC had not noticed a Cuckoo.

Infrastructure Services needs to gaze at its navel CLOSELY (another ecology!) —and Councillors, you need to check within your constituent areas for problems and complaints as well as DCC works not fully investigated and not done. (Councillors, stop desk hugging on those too generous stipends!)

Message to Residents and Ratepayers: DO NOT leave DCC alone

Void the leaks. Void the drainage problems of your surrounding subdivisions. Void the DCC desert that ‘serves’ us. Backfill DCC with people who know how to run infrastructure efficiently and who KNOW civil engineering for ratepayer benefit.

That is All.

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BUT THEN

Job Vacancy at Dunedin City Council

CHANGE DELIVERY MANAGER
[nope, not the sort of comprehensive change we lust for at DCC but integral]

The Change Delivery Manager is responsible for leading the development, maintenance and delivery of the council’s long term application development plan as well as overseeing the implementation …
Location: Dunedin Central | Job ID: 3086108 | Closing Date: 28 Oct 2016
http://dcc.recruitmenthub.co.nz/Vacancies/3086108/title/Change-Delivery-Manager

More:
[key words below: “supports the IT Strategy”]

Change Delivery Manager
Dunedin Central

Reference: 3086108

The Change Delivery Manager is responsible for leading the development, maintenance and delivery of the council’s long term application development plan as well as overseeing the implementation of new solutions and systems and application upgrades and enhancements.

Extensive experience in programme and project management and the ability to establish and maintain a professional, customer focused service delivery culture is a must. Leading a highly motivated team of 12, you will have proven experience providing leadership, guidance and mentoring to members of the team.

Success in this role means:
Delivering the agreed requirements of the programme/project to the appropriate level of quality, on time and within budget, in accordance with the programme plan.
Ensuring our business applications are current, and implemented in manner that supports the IT Strategy.
Setting and meeting the customer’s expectations
Ensuring compliance with Governance requirements.

We are ideally seeking the following skills and experience:
Proven programme and project management delivery background.
At least 4 years’ experience leading a team.
An appropriate tertiary qualification in ICT/Business and/or well-developed ICT skills to be able to understand the technical aspects of Change and Application governance and architecture.
A demonstrable broad and deep understanding of principals of change and a range of change techniques.
Ability to capture requirements from multiple sources and translate those into effective and high performing solutions.
Excellent customer and stakeholder engagement/communication skills.
Excellent understanding and application of project/programme management, Business Analysis and ITIL practices, tools and techniques.
If you have the skills and experience we are looking for and the drive to succeed, we welcome your application.

Applications Close: 28 Oct 2016

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: pixabay.com – nature

Paul Orders at Cardiff Council

Link received.

It might have cost more than £53,000 to recruit him, but new Cardiff council chief executive is impressing across the board.

“Members were presented with a highly competitive field of candidates from whom they choose Paul Orders, someone who had previous experience of the council combined with a unique perspective to city management drawn from his leadership role at Dunedin City Council, the second largest city on New Zealand’s south island.”

### walesonline.co.uk Aug 08, 2014 16:57
Who is Paul Orders? Chief executive recruited at a cost of £53,000 is the right man for the job say councillors
By Cathy Owen
The new Cardiff council chief executive, who cost more than £50,000 to recruit, has been described as a “capable” pair of hands who has “impressed” so far in the top job. There has been controversy surrounding the appointment after it was discovered that Wales’ largest authority spent £53,499.63 on the process of hiring its new chief executive last year. Paul Orders, who earns a salary of £170,000 a year, was chosen as the successful candidate for the job last year. A Freedom of Information request revealed Cardiff’s bill for the recruitment process included just over £37,000 on consultants to do the assessment and scoring work of those who applied. Concerns were also raised about the lack of interest in such a high profile position with opposition councillors blaming the public in-fighting amongst the Labour group at the time as “off putting”.
[Councillor Judith Woodman, leader of the Lib Dem group, said:] “Paul Orders was an exceptionally good officer before he went to be the chief executive in Dunedin, New Zealand. It was a good move for him because the two countries are very similar and it gave him the experience that he needed coming back here. He is very capable, but he has a very difficult job to do and you must also remember that he gets direction from the political leadership. But from what I have seen of him so far, I have been very impressed.”
Mr Orders was selected by the cross-party Appointments Committee which included Conservative group leader David Walker.
Read more

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Related Post and Comments:
1.9.14 DCC Fraud: Further official information in reply to Cr Vandervis
● [What did Paul Orders really know, why didn’t he act?]
30.8.14 DCC Fraud: Cr Vandervis states urgent need for facts…
22.8.14 DCC: Deloitte report referred to the police #Citifleet
3.7.14 Stuff: Alleged vehicle fraud at DCC
14.11.13 Jeff Dickie thanks Mr Orders for trying (unabridged)
24.9.13 DCC chief executive Paul Orders recommended for Cardiff
25.5.13 Paul Orders: Dunedin or Cardiff ???
22.8.12 Mr Orders, sir! About your staff expertise…
9.11.11 Paul Orders for change!
17.9.11 Paul Orders starts Monday

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC: New audit and risk subcommittee a little too late !!

Dunedin City Council – Media Release
Audit and Risk Subcommittee Appointment Made

This item was published on 26 Feb 2014

The Dunedin City Council has appointed the first of two independent members to its new Audit and Risk Subcommittee. Susie Johnstone, who is managing partner of accounting firm Shand Thomson, Balclutha, has been appointed by the Council as Subcommittee Chair.

Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull says Mrs Johnstone has a great deal of experience leading audit and risk committees across a range of public sector entities. “We are very fortunate to have someone of Mrs Johnstone’s calibre on the Subcommittee. Her skills, attributes and knowledge will be of huge benefit to the Subcommittee’s work.”

Mrs Johnstone is Deputy Chair of the Otago Polytechnic Council and a director of REANNZ, which is responsible for the provision of an advanced high capacity internet service to the New Zealand research and education communities. She is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and a member of its Governance Committee. She has also served on the boards of Tourism New Zealand, the Southland, Otago and Southern District Health Boards, the New Zealand Blood Service and the New Zealand Hockey Federation.

Mrs Johnstone says, “I am looking forward to working with Council and am supportive of their increasing focus on the governance aspects of audit and risk. These matters tend to fly below the radar until something doesn’t go so well so the Council is to be commended for taking the initiative in this area.”

The Audit and Risk Subcommittee has been set up to provide the Council with a degree of comfort that risk is being managed appropriately within the organisation. The Subcommittee’s responsibilities include risk management and internal control and it will oversee governance policies in areas such as conflict of interest, insurance, procurement, risk, fraud, and health and safety. It will also include oversight of the Annual Report.

The Subcommittee will report directly to the Council.

At this stage, the Subcommittee members are Mrs Johnstone, Cr Richard Thomson, Cr Hilary Calvert and Deputy Mayor Chris Staynes. The Council will shortly publicly advertise for a second independent member.

Contact Mayor of Dunedin on 03 477 4000.

DCC Link

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Sue Bidrose, DCC chief executive

Channel 39 imagines that the city council’s finances have been “put in order” – proof the station isn’t investigative or breathing oxygen.

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### dunedintv.co.nz December 24, 2013 – 2:05pm
Sue Bidrose
The Dunedin City Council had some turnover at the top late this year, after chief executive Paul Orders announced he was moving back to Wales after a two year stint. Orders’ time at the top was widely acknowledged as a period in which the council’s finances were put in order. The search to replace him resulted in a promotion from within.
Sue Bidrose took on the role in charge of more than 600 staff who run everything from rubbish collection to civil defence to economic development.
She came into the studio for a chat with chief reporter David Loughrey on subjects from motorbikes to stadiums to public service.
Video

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: dunedintv.co.nz – Sue Bidrose, screenshot (re-imaged by whatifdunedin)

DCC: Appointing a new chief executive

Cr John Bezett contacted ODT yesterday concerned the recruitment process was being rushed.

### ODT Online Sat, 9 Nov 2013
Picking council CEO gets tense
By Chris Morris
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull faces a fresh political scrap with some of his councillors over the search for the Dunedin City Council’s next chief executive. The political sniping began after Mr Cull told the Otago Daily Times on Thursday he expected a replacement for outgoing chief executive Paul Orders to be confirmed by November 21 “at the very latest”.
Read more

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CORRESPONDENCE
Four forwarded messages – individual email addresses removed. -Eds

I

—— Forwarded Message
From: Lee Vandervis
Date: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 15:55:45 +1300
To: Chris Morris [ODT]
Cc: Mayor Dave Cull, Kate Wilson, Richard Thomson, Chris Staynes, John Bezett, Lee Vandervis, Hilary Calvert, Doug Hall, Andrew Whiley, Aaron Hawkins, Mike Lord, David Benson-Pope, Neville Peat, Andrew Noone, Jinty MacTavish
Conversation: Paul Orders appointment process
Subject: Re: Paul Orders appointment process

Hi Chris,

I share Councillor Bezett’s concerns and have emailed staff to find out what has happened. [See forwarded email that follows]
The shortest-ever DCC CEO search process which ran with its first ad on 28th September but with applications closing two weeks later on 11th of October remains a great concern, suggesting predetermination and effectively preventing input into the CEO job description and search process by the 7 new Council members.
Today’s further rush in letting CEO Orders go before his 3 month contractual let-out seems to be another example of Mayoral decisions fast-tracking the CEO search process, and failing to get the most from CEO Orders before he goes.
I believe that all of these decisions should be all of Council decisions, as the appointment of a CEO is the supremely important and only staff appointment that Councillors are supposed to make.

Cheers,
Lee

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On 8/11/13 2:06 PM, “Chris Morris” [ODT] wrote:

Hi Lee,

John Bezett rang me today to express concern at the Mayor’s comments (reported in today’s paper) on the recruitment process to replace Paul Orders. Cull said he hoped for an announcement by the 21st “at the very latest”. Bezett says that’s rushing it, it’s impracticable, unseemly, etc and he doubts the recruitment process can be concluded by then. He won’t comment on what he thinks is behind the apparent rush, though.

You’ve obviously already made your views clear on this, but I’m seeking comment from all councillors on whether they share those concerns or not – feel free to comment today…

Chris.

—— End of Forwarded Message

DCC: First meeting, tidy or not

### ODT Online Tue, 29 Oct 2013
First test for Cull as council meets
By Chris Morris
Support for Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull’s appointments will be put to the test when councillors take their seats for the first time in public today. The new council – featuring seven new faces compared with the last term – will hold its inaugural meeting this afternoon. One of the first orders of business, after councillors are sworn in, will be to consider reports outlining Mr Cull’s appointments to positions of responsibility and changes to the committee structure.
[The] largely-procedural meeting will include reports from Mr Cull on the council’s revamped committee structure, membership and appointments to outside organisations.*
The meeting will also mark the contributions of two long-serving city councillors, Paul Hudson and Teresa Stevenson, after both stood unsuccessfully for another term.
Read more

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● Information on the new Councillors will be available at the DCC website from 8 November 2013.

Excerpt. See page 3 of the council report ‘Committee Structure and Membership’ listed below:

*We note from the following reports that Cr Lee Vendervis has been given NO appointments to outside organisations. Mayor Cull is being punitive, if not impolitic and absurdly petulant.

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Dunedin City Council
INAUGURAL MEETING, 2013-16 TRIENNIUM
Tuesday, 29 October 2013, 1.00 PM
Council Chamber, Municipal Chambers

Agenda – Council – 29/10/2013 (PDF, 82 KB) – View as HTML
Inaugural Meeting

Report – Council – 29/10/2013 (PDF, 71 KB) – View as HTML
Appointment to Outside Organisations

Report – Council – 29/10/2013 (PDF, 228 KB) – View as HTML
Committee Structure and Membership

Report – Council – 29/10/2013 (PDF, 100 KB) – View as HTML
Legislation

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr